Pokemon Amethyst and Garnet - Revised Version
by Eric T. M
Summary: This is the updated and revised 2018/19 version of Pokemon Amethyst and Garnet, with new characters and events. Welcome to Chinocko! Follow Riley and Rose, two budding Trainers, as they traverse a region full of original Pokemon, colourful characters, and mysterious secrets! Not everything is as it seems in Chinocko, though, and they may find their entire world turned on its head!
1. Autumn Winds of a New Adventure - Part 1

MAP OF THE CHINOCKO REGION: document/d/1g6GTC6qGQbCxIzHwAZfjKr2Bd8ow23ohhHU2Mfqzll0/edit

Pikachu, an iconic Pokemon, attacked using its most powerful move, Thunder, launching a zap of lightning at its opponent, Blastoise! The lightning bolt made a loud clap as it made contact with Blastoise, shocking the water-type Pokemon! The attack was super effective against the Blastoise, and dealt serious damage to it, but the Pokemon was determined to get up again! Stomping its two big feet into the ground, it pulled itself up using its tail to support it. It began charging up for a strong attack! The crowd excitedly cheered as the Pokemon battled it out, their Trainers standing a safe distance away from the heat of the battle and cheering their powerful Pokemon on!

The Blastoise released its charged attack, blasting two jet streams of water out of the two cannons in its shell! The move it had used was Hydro Cannon, an incredibly strong move! Pikachu jumped out of the way of one of the streams, but the second stream hit it right out of the air! Pikachu hit the ground, rolling against the dirt. It stopped rolling close to its Trainer's feet, who stared down at the Pikachu with concerned eyes. The Trainer began frantically digging through their bag, looking for something in particular. The Blastoise panted. It had used up a lot of energy to use such a powerful move as Hydro Cannon, and now it was recharging. This was the Pikachu's Trainer's chance to use a healing item! They pulled a Potion out of their bag and proudly spun it around in their palm, before applying the spray-on medicine to Pikachu's furry, staticy body.

Pikachu hopped up to its feet with a determined "Pika!" and wiggled its tail. Little sparks of electricity sizzled around its bright red cheeks. But Blastoise was now recharged! It immediately took the chance to perform another attack! It shot another jet stream of water out of its two cannons, but this one was lesser in power than before. This was merely a Water Gun attack. Pikachu dodged the attack perfectly this time! It looked back to its Trainer with pride in its eyes, and its Trainer looked back at it with a proud smile! The Trainer and their Pikachu nodded in unison, showing how in-sync they were!

Pikachu started running straight for Blastoise! Blastoise focused in on Pikachu, planning to dodge an oncoming physical attack! But what's this!? The Pikachu had disappeared from sight! Then, it reappeared in the air. It looked as though it had jumped up into the air, and there was a ball of electricity on the tip of its tail, ready to be launched! Blastoise smirked, prepared to dodge the attack! But then, it noticed another Pikachu, and another, and another next to that one! They were all doing the same motions! They were all ready to launch balls of electric energy at it! Confused, Blastoise gulped nervously. Its Trainer gasped.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Pikachu headbutted Blastoise, right in the stomach! It was moving at such a high speed that the impact knocked Blastoise, as large as it was, right off its feet! It was an astonishing tactic! Pikachu had just used a fake-out Double Team to distract the Blastoise, then attacked it with a Quick Attack while it was distracted! Pikachu landed on top of the Blastoise's stomach, who had fallen onto its shell and was scrambling to get back up!

Blastoise grabbed the Pikachu though, and turned its cannons inward, aiming them right at the small mouse Pokemon in its clutches! The Pikachu squirmed, but Blastoise had a strong grip on it! The cannons filled with water as Blastoise prepared them to fire!

But then, suddenly, a new Pokemon jumped into the ring! Out of nowhere! It was a very small, fluffy Husky Pokemon with two eyes of different colours. It was Pupsky! It barked. It seemed to be concerned about the battle that was going on, or something. Then it barked again. And then again. The battle came to an abrupt halt as everything started to fade into grayness.

Riley rubbed his tired eyes. Wow… what a vivid dream about a Pokemon battle. It must have been sparked by the Pokemon League battles he had been watching on television before going to bed. His television was still turned on, he noticed. He looked down. On the floor next to the bed was his pet Pokemon, a Pupsky. Pupsky jumped onto the bed next to Riley after it had noticed he had woken up. He smiled and pet the Pokemon's forehead as it licked his cheek, helping him to wake up more. The sun was bright outside his window, and he knew it would be a good day.

He gazed around his room as he slowly woke up. Aside from his bedroom TV being left on (which was now playing a kid's cartoon about a school of Wishiwashi) and his window being open to the bright sunlight, he noticed something on top of his dresser. He groggily hopped out of bed, still in his warm pajamas, and walked over to see what it was.

The item was a box with a ribbon around it. There was a card propped up against the box. The card had the design of a Great Ball on the front. He took the card in one hand and read it to himself. Pupsky sat patiently still on the bed, its small tail wagging. "Happy birthday, son!" the card read. Oh, it must have been from his father. "It's an exciting day for you! Not only are you a year older today, but it also means you're finally old enough to go on that Pokemon journey you've been so excited about going on! I got you a little present to help you start your journey. I thought you would like the colour I chose for you."

Riley smiled. His father was so thoughtful, always trying to make him happy and comfortable. His father used to be a Pokemon Trainer when he was Riley's age, or at least that's what the man told his son. Riley looked to the box that came with the card. It was well-wrapped in black wrapping paper with Chandelure designs on it. Riley's dad was terrible at wrapping boxes, so it clearly wasn't his wrapping. Riley chuckled. He tore curiously into the wrapping paper to get to the opening of the box. What could it possibly be?

He pulled open the box, and pulled out what was inside. It was a blue and black backpack with a cross-the-chest strap, and it even had a PokeBall keychain dangling from one of the rings the strap went through. Riley wanted to try it on, but he thought it would be best if he put on actual clothes first. He had already picked out what he wanted to wear for his birthday, so he went over to the chair in the corner which had his outfit folded up on top of it, and started getting dressed.

His outfit was fairly simple. A pair of comfy jeans, a t-shirt, and a fur-lined flannel sweater with blue plaid. Oh, and a gray checkered bandanna to go around his neck. He got dressed swiftly, and picked up his hat from the hook it was hanging from. It was a cute newsboy hat in the same shade of blue as his sweater. He tried on the backpack and looked in the mirror. Nice! The backpack matched his outfit perfectly! His hsoes were waiting for him at the door of his bedroom. When Pupsky saw Riley was leaving the room, the small Pokemon jumped down from the boy's bed and ran to the door. It jumped up and put its tiny, cold paw on Riley's shin. He grinned and knelt down to pet it, meanwhile he was putting on his favourite black canvas shoes.

He made his way downstairs, where he found his dad waiting in the kitchen. He was standing over the sink, it looked like he was doing dishes. He heard Riley coming down the stairs, with Pupsky not far behind, and smiled brightly. "There's my birthday boy!"

Riley sat down at the kitchen table and took off the backpack, setting it on the ground beside the seat.

"I see you found my birthday present to you," his dad said happily. "Happy birthday, son. I hope you slept well, 'cause you've got a big day."

Riley nodded. He knew he had a big day ahead of him. He would get to spend the day with his best friend Rose, and the best part was that Professor Maple had agreed to give him and Rose their very own Pokemon for their birthdays! Since Rose's birthday was only a few days before, Professor Maple decided to give both of them a Pokemon on Riley's birthday.

"I have another surprise for you, Riley," his dad grinned.

Riley beamed. Another surprise? But the backpack was already so great!

"I got you your favourite treat, Chinoughnuts!" Riley's dad exclaimed, pulling out a box of the delicious Chinockan delicacies and flourishing it as if it was the result of a magic trick. "Every time we go to Vancine City to do some shopping, you always want a Chinoughnut or two from Chinoughnut Champion, right? So, I got you a whole box to enjoy for your birthday! It's still breakfast, so don't eat too many, but they're all yours."

Riley was ecstatic. Could this day get any better? He flipped open the box of Chinoughnuts and immediately dug into one. The golden brown doughnut was the perfect consistency, and it was topped with a light layer of glaze, and then a layer of white icing on top! There were crumbled bits of maple cookie on top to add crunch and flavour. Chinoughnuts paired perfectly with hot chocolate. Such was a modern tradition in Chinocko, the region of Riley's home. But even without hot chocolate, Riley still couldn't wait to bite into it. And that's exactly what he did.

Pupsky looked up at Riley with a sad expression on its face. It looked like it wanted some of the Chinoughnut too, and was trying to look sad so Riley would give it some to appease it.

Riley's father noticed. "Pupsky, no. Away from the table."

Defeated, the small, black and white, furry Pokemon slinked away from the table.

Riley finished the delectable doughnut, and hopped up out of the chair. He grabbed his new backpack and placed it proudly over his shoulder once again. He made sure to thank his father for the thoughtful gift, and also for the Chinoughnuts.

"You should take a Chinoughnut with you, Riley," his dad said. "Just in case you get hungry along the way. Or, maybe your new Pokemon friend will like Chinoughnuts as much as you!"

Riley decided to take up the offer. Chinoughnuts were a popular item among established Pokemon Trainers because they could heal a Pokemon's wounds somehow. Probably the delicious taste, Riley thought! His dad packed up a Chinoughnut in a small box for him, and he placed it carefully into his new backpack.

"Remember, Rose is meeting you at the Central Fountain before you guy go to Professor Maple's Lab. She said she had something for you for your birthday that she wanted to give to you before you guys got your Pokemon, I wouldn't keep her waiting if I were you, hah."

Riley nodded, then with a smile and a wave, and a kiss on Pupsky's forehead, he went out the door and into the street.

The weather was, as could be seen through the window, lovely in New Moon Town today. The fairly small town was surrounded by a circular wall of white brick with two gates, one on the east, and one on the west. There was a main road leading between the two gates, and Central Fountain was located right in the middle of town, which meant it was intersected by the main road. The main road also split the town in half colour-wise. On one side of the main road, all of the ground was made of white brick. On the other, all of the ground was made of autumn-coloured brick. Many people commented saying that New Moon Town kind of looked like a PokeBall. Central Fountain would have been where the button to open the PokeBall was located.

It was a fairly straight walk to the Central Fountain, and not a long one. As Riley approached the town's one of few landmarks, he noticed that there was someone already waiting there. It was Rose, his best friend since he could remember. She was an objectively beautiful girl, with long, straight black hair and wide light-brown eyes. She was also an objectively fashionable girl, especially for someone of her young age.

She wore form-fitting dark-gray jeans and a tank top, and a sweater that looked like a purple version of Riley's. Her sweater, though, was stylishly draped off her shoulders. On her head, she had a cute dark-violet beret, and around her neck was an indigo scarf that occasionally twitched in the early-autumn breeze. She wore comfy-looking high-bottomed hiking boots in black and purple, and she had a backpack that was the same style as Riley's and matched the colours of her outfit the same way Riley's matched his.

He approached, and it took a while before Rose noticed Riley coming. "Oh!" she beamed, standing up from her seat on the edge of the fountain. "You finally made it!" She stood up and waited for Riley to get closer.

Riley started jogging as to not keep his friend waiting any longer. When he reached her, Rose gave him a playful hug. "Happy birthday, Slowpoke!" she teased. "Can you believe it? We're both now finally old enough to go on Pokemon adventures! It's gonna be so fun! I always knew we'd start our Pokemon adventures together! Pokemon League, here Riley and I come! Am I right?"

Riley grinned in agreement.

"Gee, you always know exactly what to say," Rose joked, then chuckled aloud. "Here, I got you something! I figured it might be useful to get you started." She pulled something out of her bag. It looked like a book of some sort. She handed it over to Riley, who took it and looked at it to see what it was. His first instinct was to open it and see what kind of book it was.

There was only a screen inside, though.

"Okay, to be fair, it was actually my mom who bought it, but I'm the one who convinced her," Rose explained. "Here, lemme show you how it works. See this button here?" She reached over and pressed a button on the book-screen-thing. Suddenly, the screen turned on. Evidently, the image on the screen was a map. There was a flashing blue marker in the center-south of the map. Something looked familiar about the map.

"It's the Town Map of Chinocko," Rose continued to explain. "And that blue marker thing is your location. See where it is now? That's New Moon Town. That's right where we are!"

Riley was indeed impressed. What cool technology, for something that looked like a book!

"And there's a bunch of other cool features, too! I heard that it can be used to see what kind of Pokemon live in different areas of Chinocko, but I haven't figured out how to get that to work yet. The Town Map can display the temperature of different areas of Chinocko, though. Cool, right?"

Riley fumbled around with the touch screen. He managed to find the button that displayed the temperatures. Suddenly, a number was imposed in front of all of the different towns on the map. New Moon Town, Riley's location, was at 18 degrees Celsius, according to the forecast on the Town Map. It even showed that there was a light breeze! How accurate, and how useful!

Riley thanked Rose for giving him such a useful piece of technology as a gift.

"You're super welcome!" she cheerfully responded. "You ready to go to Professor Maple's Lab? Oh, I'm so excited! She's expecting us, we can go right away!"

Riley smiled and nodded. He was also excited to go.

Rose started walking ahead, and Riley followed. They soon arrived at the renowned Maple Labs. It was one of the larger buildings in town. There was a maple leaf logo on the wall, and there were big glass doors. There were also many windows. Maple Labs was a rather large lab, or at least what Riley envisioned to be a large lab, with nothing else to really compare to, and it employed multiple Pokemon scientists. The glass doors slid open when the saw Riley and Rose approaching.

Professor Maple was waiting inside. She was young for a Pokemon Professor. At least, Riley thought she ought to be young for a Pokemon Professor. The only other Pokemon Professors he knew of were the famous Professor Oak and the slightly-less-famous Professor Rowan, from the Kanto and Sinnoh regions respectively.

She had shiny brown hair and striking green eyes. Her hair was loosely curled, and reached down to about the middle of her back. For an outfit, she wore a cropped dark-gray blazer, which had the same maple leaf logo as a pin in the chest pocket, overtop of a full-length white dress shirt, and a pencil skirt that reached mid-thigh. She also wore thigh-high woven white socks, and comfy-looking flats that matched the colour of her skirt and blazer. She also wore white silk gloves, which were the things that made her look like a real scientist, in Riley's eyes.

"Oh, you two! I've been waiting!" The Professor had a tablet screen in her hand, like she always seemed to.

"Hey, Professor Maple!" Rose cheerfully greeted, running over to see the woman who she looked up to. "So? So? Our Pokemon! Where are they!?"

Professor Maple chuckled heartfully. "Yes, I'd be excited, too," she sighed. "But be patient, Rose. I'll get to that soon enough. Come with me to my office?"

"Okay!" Rose and Riley both followed the Pokemon Professor into her office. It was a large-ish building, so there were multiple offices. Four, to be precise, and a social area.

All things considered, Professor Maple had a pretty luxurious office. Well, her renowned reputation clearly must have earned her that, at least. There was a long desk in the middle of the room, somewhat conference-like. Riley and Rose both didn't bother to sit down, though. At the other end of the office was a large screen, currently off, which was separated from a wall of trickling water by a glass pane. There was a small round tank with small fish Pokemon in it in the corner. The Pokemon seemed happy, even if they were in a fishtank.

"So!?" Rose blurted out, unable to contain her excitement.

"Hahah," laughed Professor Maple heartfully. "All right, let's begin immediately so that you can get your first Pokemon as soon as possible." The Professor flicked something on the screen of her tablet, which caused the image to be projected onto the much larger screen on the back wall. "I've got to see you guys grow since you were both quite, quite young. And you've both grown up into mature young adults."

"Aww, thanks," Rose said, blushing.

"Very welcome!" Professor Maple continued, her smile genuine. "So, given how mature you've both become, I figured that if I were to put the task of taking care of a Pokemon into anyone's hands, I'm glad it gets to be yours. I have very special Pokemon for you to choose from today."

"I can't wait!" Rose interrupted.

"Patience, Rose," Professor Maple continued. "This is important. The Pokemon I picked out for you guys to take care of are from endangered species."

"Endangered species?" Rose asked.

"Mhm," confirmed the Professor. "So, I need you guys to take extra good care of these Pokemon, because their natural habitats have been taken over by humans."

"I promise I'll take the very best care!" Rose said with resolve.

"Good, good," grinned Maple. "There are three Pokemon I've selected today. You'll each choose one of the Pokemon to take care of and become friends with." She pulled up another image on the screen. It was an image of a Pokemon! It looked like a small, short-haired Pokemon with a rocky shell. "This is Burndillo. Burndillo is known as the Small Ember Pokemon. It's cute, no? But, its habitat in the Osuyassa Desert Subregion was lost due to the expansion of the Excavation Site."

'Oh no…" Rose whimpered.

"It's a real shame," Maple nodded sympathetically. "But if either of you pick Burndillo as your partner, I know it'll be in good hands. It rolls around using that cute shell of its, using its tail to propel it. It's a fire-type Pokemon.

"Next, is this one." Maple pulled another image up on the screen. It was a Pokemon that didn't have any limbs, but had an interesting skull-looking face. "This one is known as Elelel, The Little Eel Pokemon. It's water-type. It used to live along the coasts of Chinocko, but temperature changes in the water caused the population to drastically decline. But it's an awfully cute Pokemon, huh?"

Riley responded this time. He nodded. Elelel was pretty darn cute.

"Yeah!' Maple enthusiastically cheered. "They're social Pokemon, due to their tendency to try to establish mutualism; that is, to work together with other Pokemon in the wild. Elelel just loves when you pet its fins, too!"

"That's adorable!" Rose gasped, shaking her arms in excitement.

"Last, but absolutely not least," Maple continued, swiping one more image up onto the screen. It was a green Pokemon that looked like a teddy bear with vibrant flower petals around its neck. "We have Cubbush, the Wild Cub Pokemon! It unfortunately got run out of its natural habitat due to the expansion of cities in the Central Subregion of Chinocko, but you can see it's still full of zeal to live a happy life! Just look at those hopeful eyes!" The Pokemon on the screen had huge, happy-looking eyes with a shine of red in them. "They have little rocky claws that allow them to climb trees, and the flower petals on their neck are so pleasant-smelling that they're sometimes used for aromatherapy."

"Aromatherapy?" Rose asked.

"Aromatherapy is when you… when you smell something nice, and it makes you feel less stressed or sad. Like when you smell a flower that you like the smell of," Professor Maple explained.

"So those are the three Pokemon we get to choose from?" Rose asked.

"Yes," nodded Maple. "I've got them right here." She pulled out a capsule. There were a total of three PokeBalls inside, each nestled in a cushion so they wouldn't get scratched.

"Ooh!" Rose squealed ecstatically. "Oh, I'm so excited!"

"Riley, it's your birthday today, why don't you take the first pick?" Maple suggested.

"Yay! Riley, are you excited?" Rose was skipping on the spot out of her overflowing excitement.

Riley nodded and grinned. Wow, his very own Pokemon! Which one would he choose? How could he possibly choose just one?! All three of the Pokemon looked so awesome!

The PokeBalls were indicated by the colour of cushion they were laid on. One cushion was blue, and had a water droplet embroidered on it. One cushion was orange, and had a red flare of fire embroidered on it. The last cushion was a pleasant green, and had an emerald leaf embroidered on it.

Riley took a moment to choose. It didn't feel like he would come to a decision anytime soon. But, he didn't want to keep Rose waiting, either. She was pouring out excitement.

"No need to rush it, Riley," Maple reminded. "This is a big decision."

But he knew that he would love and cherish any Pokemon he received. He wanted to believe he could take great care of his Pokemon. He closed his eyes tight, and let his hand take whichever PokeBall it landed on. He felt his finger slide along the light but sturdy metallic surface of a PokeBall. He closed his palm around it, and opened his eyes.

It was the PokeBall on the orange cushion! It looked like his Pokemon would be Burndillo! He could hardly believe he was holding a real-life PokeBall. He held it close to his chest.

"My turn, my turn!" Rose insisted.

"Yes!" grinned Maple. "It's finally your turn! You've been so excited this whole time, hah! So, go ahead! Pick your Pokemon, Rose!"

"I already know which one I want!" Rose proclaimed. "I choose Elelel! It's just too cute!" She skipped over to the capsule on the desk and proudly claimed the PokeBall containing Elelel. She held the PokeBall up excitedly.

"Riley?" she asked, turning to face Riley. A new kind of determination was now on her face. "You have to be my first opponent in a Pokemon Battle!"

Riley smirked. He was already excited to try battling with his new Burndillo!

"Not in my office, kids," Maple insisted.

"Oh, okay," Rose complied. "Let's go to the Central Fountain again! That sounds like the perfect place to battle!"

"That does sound nice!" Maple admitted. "I'll go with you guys."


	2. Autumn Winds of a New Adventure - Part 2

All participating Trainers had arrived at the battlefield! Autumn breezes brushed through the air, carrying with them the scent of grass and leaves. Rose and Riley glared at each other with determination. At their feet, their Pokemon, Riley's new friend Burndillo, and Rose's new friend Elelel, glared at each other just like their Trainers.

"As is the standard, the battle concludes when all of one Trainer's Pokemon are no longer able to battle," Professor Maple explained, deciding she would referee the kids' first battle together.

Riley stood behind Burndillo. The cute, tiny Pokemon toddled on its round shell. Then it occurred to him; he didn't actually know how to tell what moves his Pokemon could use.

Professor Maple noticed Riley's worry, and commented, "Burndillo knows Tackle and Bite at this point." She smiled, "Don't worry, as you get more experience, you'll naturally learn how to tell the moves of a Pokemon that you've befriended."

"Ooh, can you tell me what Elelel knows?" Rose asked.

"Elelel knows Tackle and Leer at this point, Rose," Maple explained.

"Thanks! Riley, you take the first move! I dare you!" challenged Rose.

Riley obliged. He looked into Burndillo's eyes, who looked back at him. Burndillo knew what to do before Riley even had to say anything. It rolled up into a ball using its flexible stone-hard shell, and pushed off with its tail. This sent it rolling quickly towards Elelel, who took a preparatory stance!

Burndillo uncurled from its shell just in time to Tackle its opponent with strong force! Elelel was pushed back by the force of Burndillo's Tackle.

"Elelel, counter with a Tackle!" Rose ordered, pumping her fist excitedly.

Elelel obeyed the order! It dashed through the air towards Burndillo, tucking back its head and pushing out the sharp nose of its skull-shaped helmet! It hit Burndillo's shell, leaving a scrape, but clearly it didn't do as much damage as Rose would have wished.

"It's okay, Elelel! Don't get discouraged!Tackle again!" Rose cheered.

Elelel smiled at the encouragement, and used Tackle on Burndillo once again! This time, it managed to Tackle into the opposing Burndillo's chest! Burndillo squeaked in pain, but its determined look didn't fade. It looked back to the silent Riley for further instruction.

Riley nodded. Burndillo knew what it meant. Using its tail to spring it forward, it thrust its neck out in front of it! Using the momentum from its tail push, it launched itself at Elelel! It bit into the Elelel's side with a sharp Bite attack!

Elelel yelped, and swung its arm around. Burndillo was flung off, but luckily its round shell protected its back as it fell to the ground! Elelel came dashing for it, ready to attack again, but it rolled out of the way, then used its shell to bound into Elelel with another Tackle!

Elelel fell on its stomach, dazed from the impact.

"The battle concludes!" Professor Maple determined, throwing up her hands. "Elelel is unable to battle, meaning the winner is Burndillo!"

Rose sighed, her shoulders tense. "Well... fine... it's both of our first battle, I guess one of us had to lose..." She noticed Riley looking at her with a perfectly humble expression. "What?" she snarked. "I'm not salty at all! Promise! Want me to show you how un-salty I am?"

Riley chuckled. Burndillo rolled up to its Trainer's feet, and squeaked proudly. With a big smile, Riley knelt down and pet the Pokemon's bristly short beige fur.

"Here," Professor Maple smiled as she knelt down. She pulled out a strange-looking yellow medicine and a Potion bottle. She put the yellow medicine into Elelel's mouth and it immediately got back up, as if it hadn't even been knocked out. "It's a Revive," she explained. Then, she used the Potion to return the cub Pokemon to its peak health, healing all the bruises it had picked up from the battle.

"You did well, Elelel. Thanks,even if we lost," Rose smiled, kneeling down and giving her slick, cute Pokemon a hug.

"Here, I'll do the same for Burndillo," Professor Maple said as she applied a Potion to Burndillo as well, healing up the scrape marks. "You guys might want one of these for yourselves, huh?" Maple noticed.

"A Potion? Yeah, that does sound like it would be mega-helpful," Rose nodded.

"All right, here you go," Maple grinned as she handed a Potion to Rose. "And for you, Riley," she said as she gave Riley a Potion as well.

Riley nodded in thanks.

"Follow me to my office, I have other things for you guys, now that you've officially had your first Pokemon Battle!" Maple instructed cheerfully.

"Ooh boy, even more? What could you possibly give us that would be greater than a Pokemon!?" Rose gasped.

"Well, I doubt I can give you anything better than a Pokemon!" Maple chuckled. "But, I think you'll appreciate it nevertheless."

And so, the two brand-new Trainers and their newly-battle-christened Pokemon followed the Pokemon Professor back to her lab, then into her office.

She pulled out even more things. Two, to be exact. Two small red devices with PokeBall designs on them. "These are PokeDexes," she began. "They're capable of recording and relaying information on all types of Pokemon!"

"Wow!" Rose exclaimed, putting her hands excitedly up to her chest.

"It is indeed cool!" admitted Professor Maple. "But, I'm not giving them to you guys as mere toys, understand?"

"W-what?" Rose questioned.

"As you both know, my field of expertise as a Pokemon Professor revolves around Pokemon Conservation," Maple began. "So, I have a job for both of you. I have a feeling you'll think of it as more fun than work, though!"

"Oh?" Rose asked. "What's our job?"

"I want you to explore and encounter all kinds of Pokemon throughout the Chinocko region, and use the PokeDex to record information on them! That way, I can use that information to further my research into how best to approach the conservation of the habitats and lifestyles of the wide range of Pokemon found here in Chinocko," explained the Professor.

"I'm totally down!" Rose shouted with gusto. "Riley?"

He smiled and nodded back.

"Great! Then, here are your PokeDexes! Go make me proud!" With that, Professor Maple handed one of the two red devices to either of the children.

"Thanks, Professor Maple!" Rose grinned. "Wow," she sighed, "my very own PokeDex, and my very own Pokemon in the same day!"

Riley tested out his PokeDex on his Burndillo. He used the device's scanner to scan his adorable Pokemon partner. Within moments, a bunch of information, along with an image of the Pokemon, appeared on the holographically-projected screen of the PokeDex!

"Burndillo," an automated voice read. "The Small Ember Pokemon. Type: Fire. Burndillo typically roll around as main method of locomotion. Their tails are easily enough to propel them a decent distance, up to 10 meters per use. Their thick shells sometimes leak lava, and are believed to be absolutely indestructible."

"Wow, that's so awesome!" Rose awed. "Let me try!" She pointed her PokeDex's scanner at Elelel, and the same process unfolded for her.

"Elelel," the same automated voice read, but from her device and not Riley's. "The Little Eel Pokemon. Elelel are rather weak on their own, and tend to try to develop mutualism with other species of marine Pokemon. The helmet-like covering over their heads is actually not a skull, but an intricate partial exoskeleton. Its fins store toxins in them, but they can't actually release them."

"It's so cool!" Rose repeated.

"One more thing," Professor Maple added. "Before I forget, you're going to need Trainer Cards to verify that you are allowed to catch wild Pokemon and participate in the Pokemon League."

"Wow, really? That sounds important!" noted Rose.

"It is!" Maple exclaimed. "I had yours made for you already so that they'd be ready to give to you right away, though. I have them right here." She pulled two small identification cards out of her blazer's chest pocket. "All you have to do is put your signatures on them!"

She handed the cards to their respective owners, along with a pen for each of them. They both signed their initial onto the back of the Trainer Cards, and returned the pens to Maple.

"Well, you guys are pretty much ready to go on your own journeys, no?" Maple inquired.

"Yes!" Rose responded in a shout. "Yes, I'm so excited!"

"You guys should make sure to check in at home first, though, before leaving for the long journey ahead of you," Maple reminded. "It's only polite."

"Will do!" Rose smiled. "See you later, Professor Maple!" she said, waving. She looked at Riley, and waved at him to, saying, "See you, soon, too, Slowpoke!" Then, she started skipping home, with Elelel hovering happily behind her.

Riley watched as she left. He waved a silent goodbye to Professor Maple, before he also headed home. He put Burndillo back in its PokeBall so it wouldn't have to get dizzy rolling all the way home.

"Oh, back already?" he dad asked as he heard Riley come through the door.

Pupsky ran up to greet Riley, as it always did. It noticed something different though... It curiously sniffed Riley's pants.

"It looks like Pupsky smells another Pokemon on your clothes!" Riley's dad observed. "Come on, show me your new partner!"

Riley did as requested, and let Burndillo out of the PokeBall. It gave its fur a quick brush with its tiny front paws, then looked around. It was quickly greeted by Pupsky, who playfully sniffed it.

"Bark!" Pupsky barked, its tail rapidly wagging.

"Dillo," Burndillo responded.

"Wow. Is that a Burndillo?" Riley's dad asked. "They're super rare! And Professor Maple just **gave** you one?"

Riley explained everything that had transpired since the morning to his father, meanwhile Pupsky and Burndillo played around on the living room carpet. They seemed to already be good friends.

"Sounds like it's already been a huge day. So, you got a PokeDex in exchange for promising you'd see many Pokemon?" asked Riley's dad. He smiled, "I hope that you meet all kinds of Pokemon, and learn about them! Pokemon are so fascinating and cool!"

Riley couldn't disagree about that. He noticed that his father was watching what appeared to be a Pokemon wildlife documentary on the semi-holographic living room television screen. It was about Gogoat and Lynk, and how the Gogoat were able to use their physical strength to drive back the cunning Lynk. his father was always watching these sorts of shows, always trying to learn more about every Pokemon that was out there.

"Riley, could you feed the Lumineon for me?" his father asked.

Riley got up and walked over to the fishtank in the corner of the living room. It was a large tank, more than enough space for a Lumineon to swim around happily. And there were plenty of stones and plants on the floor of the tank to simulate Lumineon's natural habitat, a deep freshwater lake. Luimineon saw Riley coming and its eyes lit up. Riley smiled at it and waved at it through the glass, which provoked it to swim happily through the water in circles.

Riley gave it the appropriate Pokemon food, and it munched on it without a care in the world.

"I'm so proud of you, Riley," his dad sighed. "It's hard to believe you're already a Pokemon Trainer. When I was your age-" He stopped himself. "Well, anyway, Burndillo and Pupsky seem to be getting along great already."

Riley turned his neck to look at the two Pokemon. Burndillo's eyes were warm with joy and Pupsky kept jumping back and forth in front of the fire-type Pokemon. Riley chuckled.

"Is there anything else I can do for you before you go on your big, long, scary journey?" his dad asked.

Riley thought for a moment. His dad had already given him a new backpack and a whole box of Chinoughnuts for his birthday. He shook his head.

"Okay. Well..." his dad sighed. "I'll miss you. Come back to town occassionally, okay?"

Riley promised he would. He put Burndillo back in its PokeBall and made his way to the door. Pupsky ran after him, whimpering upsetly as he got close to the door. Riley looked down at Pupsky with concern. What was it upset about?

"I don't think Pupsky wants you to go without it, Riley," his dad guessed. "It's up to you. Would you like to take Pupsky on your adventure with you?"

Of course Riley wanted to take Pupsky with him on his Pokemon journey! He had lived with the Pokemon for years already.

His dad got up and went to the kitchen. There was a PokeBall on the counter. "This is Pupsky's PokeBall. It never uses it, but now that you're taking it on your journey with you, you'll need it." Riley's dad handed him the PokeBall, and Pupsky's tail started to wag again.

Riley put his hand on the doorknob, but got stopped one more time.

"I think I have one more thing I can give you that'll help you on your journey," his dad explained. He left for a moment, before coming back with something in hand. It was a small book-shaped case, with a leather surface on either side. There was a golden PokeBall-shaped buckle that held it closed. Riley's dad unclipped the buckle and opened the case. Inside was a foamy surface with weirdly-shaped holes in it. "It's the Badge Case I used when I was going on my Pokemon adventure," his dad explained. "I'm not gonna use it any time soon. Have it."

Riley looked up at his dad. He was extremely grateful for all of the gifts he'd received today.

Finally, he was out the door, and about to take his first steps on his very own Pokemon journey. He never could have ever predicted the fantastical things he would come to see or the diverse people he would come to meet.


	3. The First Road

"Oh, Riley!" Rose called. She was standing at the East Gate that led out of New Moon Town and onto Route 4. Professor Maple was standing next to her. "We were hoping we'd see you here," she smiled.

Riley walked over and stood to the side, Burndillo rolling around playfully on its shell by his feet.

"Aww, Burndillo looks like it's already comfortable around you, Riley," commented Maple. "I'm going to be going to Sherrow City to meet with my lab assistant, Akili, and a Professor from the Trainer University named Nalya. I thought you two might like to join me, and get a little taste of what it's like being a Pokemon Conservationist."

"I said 'Yeah, totally!'" Rose grinned. "You wanna come, Riley?"

Riley thought for a moment. He nodded. It would probably be enriching to see the work Maple did. He'd only ever heard of it. Or maybe it would be boring… but either way he didn't really have any other places to be. Sherrow City had the Fighting-type Pokemon Gym in it, too, right?

"Great," Maple nodded. "We'll be on our way. We'll regroup in Torutara Town and make sure everyone's doing all right, how's that sound?"

"Torutara Town is where the farmer's market is, uh-huh?" Rose asked.

"That's right, Rose," confirmed Maple. "Although it's not open right now, unfortunately."

"Heh, that's okay. What's a Pokemon Trainer like me got buying herbs at a public market anyway?" Rose joked.

Maple chuckled, as if she knew something Rose didn't. "You'll see soon enough, dear."

With that, Rose and Maple went on ahead, while Riley stood back and started his excursion into the Pokemon wilderness at his own pace. Burndillo following behind him, he took in a confident breath, and proceeded through the gate. The ground was covered in crunchy dull-green leaves, but there was a well-raked pebble path through the middle of the road. There was a white picket fence on either side of the grassy, leafy route, and a handful of matching benches. There were five white wooden benches, three of which were in use by Trainers, and one of which was in use by a wild Pokemon! There was a small, fluffy Pokemon sitting on the bench. It had soft, dull-brown fur and a diamond-shaped patch of white around its eye. Furthermore, there were a handful more diamond-shaped white patches of fur near the Pokemon's rear, close to its cottonball-like tail. Riley pointed his PokeDex at it.

The PokeDex began to relay information on the Pokemon. "Cottontuft. The Fluffy-Tailed Pokemon. Type: Normal. Cottontuft are very small Pokemon that live in small grounded dens, often in the side of small elevations. They have spots on their bodies that are the opposite colour of their fur during the year. They're very popular among beginner Pokemon Trainers."

Cottontuft, huh? It was a mighty cute Pokemon, Riley couldn't deny. Burndillo watched the Pokemon timidly. Riley looked down to his Pokemon friend. Burndillo looked up to its new Trainer. They both knew exactly what to do. Battle time!

Burndillo rolled into position, enough distance away from the Cottontuft on the bench so that it could dodge an oncoming attack, but not too far away that it wouldn't be able to go in for an attack of its own.

The Cottontuft managed to make the first move! It hopped around and faced away from Burndillo. It wiggled its tiny, stubby tail. Tiny tufts of cottony fur flew out from the small tail, distracting Burndillo for a moment. That move looked like Tail Whip, a move Riley had seen professional Trainers make their Pokemon use in broadcasted battles.

Burndillo looked back to Riley for a moment, who narrowed his eyes. Burndillo knew from the gesture what it should do. It curled up into its shell, then used its tail to propel itself forward and airborne!

It uncurled from its shell while in the air, then rammed its shoulder into the Cottontuft's soft side! The Cottontuft squeaked, then countered with a Bite using its surprisingly sharp front teeth! Burndillo landed on its back on the ground below the bench, but quickly flipped itself using its strong tail! A bit of hot lava bubbled out of a crack in its rocky shell.

It rolled back, making distance between itself and the Cottontuft! It reared its head, then fired a spew of flame out of its mouth! Riley was surprised to see that his Burndillo had already learned a new move! It had just used Ember, a Fire-type move!

The Ember hit the Cottontuft, singing its cottony fur. The tiny wild Pokemon looked tired as it hopped away, off the bench, under the fence and into the wilderness. Riley felt kind of bad, but he looked down at Burndillo, whose victory made it proud, and he felt better.

"You're Riley, right?" someone asked. It was one of the Trainers who was sitting on one of the other benches along the long, straight route. Riley turned to face the voice. It belonged to someone even younger than himself. "It's me, Andrew, your neighbour."

Riley somewhat remembered the name, but remembered the kid's young, soft face more. He'd always just known this kid as Youngster, which is what everyone else in town called him. So he would be called Youngster Andrew, Riley thought.

"You're a Trainer now! I bet it must be mega-cool!" Youngster Andrew noted. "Please battle me and my Cottontuft, too! Your battle with that wild one was just so cool!"

Riley, as a Trainer, couldn't refuse a challenge! He agreed. He sent out Pupsky this time. From living with Pupsky, he'd come to know that it knew two moves. Scratch was the first move it knew, and the other was Bite.

Pupsky landed on the ground after being sent out of its PokeBall. It pawed the ground excitedly with its little white paws, looking around. It noticed the Trainer across from it, and the Cottontuft that the Trainer had summoned, and it puppy-howled with excitement. It was its very first battle alongside Riley! Its tail wagged rapidly.

"Cottontuft, use Bite!" Andrew commanded. The Cottontuft, this one a bit darker in colour and its diamond spots more of a gray, hopped over to Pupsky with its cute little springy legs, and attempted to Bite the canine Pokemon. However, Pupsky used its small but strong paw to pin down the Cottontuft's head. Evidently, the Bite was a failure. Pupsky used Scratch on the Cottontuft, leaving a scratch mark on its butt. The Pokemon attempted a Bite again, and this time it managed to get its teeth into Pupsky's leg. Pupsky yelped, and shook off the Cottontuft. It ran over to where the Cottontuft landed, and used Bite, biting it on its wide, furry back. The Cottontuft, exhausted, fell over onto its side, seemingly asleep.

"Aww man…" sighed Youngster Andrew. "Wow, that was cool! Thanks for the battle!"

Riley smiled. Pupsky came running back to him, and he patted the Pokemon's fluffy neck. He sent it back into its PokeBall and continued walking down Route 4. Although the route was long, it was straight, and he could see the ranch-style gate into Torutara Town from here.

Adjusting his flannel sweater's collar, he continued down the long route with a confident expression. His next challenger was a young lady with a red skirt. "Oh, hello, fellow Trainer!" she greeted, waving. She had a purse, and the purse was shaped like a Pikachu's round face. Riley waved. "Would you care for a battle, or maybe a cookie?" the young lady asked.

Both sounded nice, but Riley was mostly here to battle and get stronger in preparation for going up against the intimidating Chinocko Pokemon League!

"One battle! Is that all for you?" she asked. "With pleasure! Name's Marie, by the way, if you care. They call me Marie the Lass. Dunno why, really." Marie had very fair skin and light blonde hair, with soft blue eyes, and her outfit did look very lass-like to match her elegant face. She pulled out a PokeBall from her Pikachu purse and threw it out in front of her. Out from it popped a new Pokemon! It was a tiny insectoid Pokemon. It was small, had a round head, tiny mandibles, and its body pattern almost looked like it was wearing a sweater, complete with a woven hood and two little silky drawstrings. Concealpillar hid shyly behind the hood of its sweater. "Concealpillar, please help me deliver a battle for this kind Trainer!"

Riley assumed that the Concealpillar must be Bug-type, so he sent out Burndillo, whose Ember move would have an advantage.

Burndillo's rocky shell was glowing from the lava inside it, and the Pokemon looked particularly determined!

Concealpillar looked like a bit of a clumsy Pokemon, but for an insect, it had a cute charm to it. It started the battle with a String Shot, producing a long string of insect silk from its mouth, which was shot with force at Burndillo! The lava from Burndillo's shell melted some of the silk, but there was still enough silk on the rest of its body that it was slowed down a bit.

Burndillo used Ember, firing a blast of fire from its mouth and towards the Concealpillar! It hit the poor Bug Pokemon right in the face. Concealpillar squealed. "C-ceal!" It prepared another attack, ramming into Burndillo with its large round head in a Tackle! Burndillo used Tackle as a counterattack! It was enough to make Concealpillar unable to battle.

"Oh, for heck's sake!" the Lass groaned. "I so hate losing!" she shouted. "But, congratulations, kind Trainer. I hope you were pleased by that battle. Have this, you've earned it." Marie handed over a handful of reward money to Riley, since he'd won the battle.

He thanked her for the battle, and the reward money, and proceeded onward. The Torutara Town arch was so close now. He looked to his side. There was a gate there, built into the white picket fence that outlined the route. Riley knew from experience that there was a Berry farm through that gate, but evidently the gate was locked. He proceeded through the arched, unlocked gate that led into the town.

Torutara Town was notably quite a small town. In fact, it was possibly ever slightly smaller than New Moon Town. Riley had been here before with his dad, though the town seemed so different without the bustling public market being open. Thought Torutara Town was small, it was a rather busy town thanks to the popularity of the public market, so a Pokemon Centre had been installed in the middle of town. The town was notoriously S-shaped, with the homes forming their own wall around the town without the need for brick or stones like in New Moon Town. There was a tightly-knit cul de sac near the entrance of the town, a long winding road leading north, and in the northernmost area of town was the Torutara Well, which was considerably less flashy than New Moon Town's Central Fountain, but also probably more useful in the long-run.

Maple and Rose were already waiting in town, chatting and sitting on a not-white bench outside the Pokemon Centre. "Oh, Riley," Maple noted. "Over here!" she summoned.

Riley went over, standing, as there were no more open spaces on the bench.

"How was your walk through the first route of your journey?" Maple inquired.

Riley responded, saying it was nice, and that he'd gone up against Trainers and even a wild Pokemon.

"I'm glad to see you're getting the hang of the Trainer lifestyle so quickly!" Maple smiled. "This is a Pokemon Centre that we're sitting outside of, but I'm sure you know that already. You can heal your Pokemon here, or buy items for your travels. There's even a P.C. system inside where you can store Pokemon that you've caught but don't have room for on your team."

All of that information was indeed interesting, even if Riley was already aware.

"They even have a Chinoughnut Champion inside of some Pokemon Centres!" Maple continued.

Riley's face lit up at the mention of Chinoughnut Champion.

"You should go inside and familiarize yourself with Pokemon Centre facilities," she suggested. "After all, as a Trainer, you'll be stopping at Pokemon Centres frequently, you know."

Riley decided that that was probably a good idea. He waved to Maple and Rose, then went into the Pokemon Centre. The PokeBall-shaped building had sliding glass doors which opened automatically when he approached them.

Inside of the Pokemon Centre, there was plenty of natural light coming in from the large, curved exterior windows. There were also bright fluorescent lights overhead too, though. In the very middle of the Pokemon Centre was the iconic curved nurse's counter. One of the nurses stood behind the desk, happily ready to heal some Pokemon. To the right, there was a PokeMart counter, as well. There was a waiting area as well, with comfortable-looking seats. To the left was a staircase which led to the loft floor. On the loft floor was the location of the built-in Chinoughnut Champion, complete with tables and chairs to eat at. Riley was immediately tempted to go there, but he decided that one fresh Chinoughnut to go, the one his father had given him, would probably tide him over for the time.

He stepped forward, where the pink-haired nurse greeted him. She had soft features, and an elegant uniform. Her ponytail had a surprisingly tight spiral to it. "May I take your Pokemon for a few minutes, and bring them back to full health?" she offered. Riley handed over his Pokemon's PokeBalls to the Pokemon Centre nurse, who took them with gloved hands and brought them over to a high-tech machine with slots in it perfectly sized to fit one PokeBall each. While his Pokemon were being healed, he decided to check out the PokeMart. There was a kind-looking worker sitting at the desk. As much as they looked kind, they looked incredibly bored, with their head held up by one hand as they leaned on the surface of the counter. She perked up at the sight of a customer. "Welcome!" she called. "What can I get for you?"

Riley looked through the catalogue of items that was projected on a touch screen that was built into the PokeMart counter.

"Oh, wait, before you order anything, take this," the cashier insisted, handing Riley a small thin-metal card. "It's a promotional card. Open it and see if you won anything."

Riley couldn't refuse a free prize. He pressed a flat button on the card, and it split in half. A holographic screen appeared in the middle of the two halves. There was a message on the holographic projection, which said, "You're a winner! Prize: Five (5) Free Regular PokeBalls."

"Ooh, you won! What'd you win?" the cashier nosily asked, peering her head over the counter to look at the holographic screen. "Wow, free PokeBalls! And five of them, at that!" She went into the back of the store and gathered the five PokeBalls that Riley had won, and handed them to him after scanning them through the cash register as prizes. "Exciting! So, can I get you anything else?"

Riley continued to scroll through the catalogue, noticing some items were grayed out, for whatever reason. He predicted that buying another Potion would probably be a smart move. Besides, it would be awkward to win a prize and not buy anything.

He ordered the singular extra Potion, which the cashier retrieved for Riley. After the transaction, there was an announcement over the speakers. "A message for Riley, your Pokemon are now healed. Please come retrieve them from the front counter."

"Thanks for your business," the cashier waved. "Come again."

Riley retrieved Pupsky and Burndillo from the nurse, then went back outside, having thoroughly familiarized himself with the Pokemon Centre's services.

"So, your Pokemon all good?" Rose asked.

Riley nodded.

"So," Maple began. "The path to Sherrow City is through the Tempris Woods, which is the largest temperate rainforest in Chinocko. Thankfully, the actual path through to Sherrow is rather short, but try not to go off the path and get lost, okay?" she insisted.

"Right. So, let's go!" Rose exclaimed, and ran onward without waiting for anyone else.

"Oh boy," Maple chuckled. "She sure does get excited. But she gets frightened easily, too. I wonder if someone as excitable as Rose is safe on a Pokemon journey. You know, Riley?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Maple had a point. Pokemon journeys required patience and courage. Both things Rose didn't exactly have. But, then again, did Riley even have those things? He sighed.

"I'll try and catch up to her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble, all right?" Maple explained. "You can go at your own pace." With that, she followed Rose's path and headed north down the road. Riley watched her leave, as her lab coat fluttered slightly in the breeze. Looking down at the town map for a moment, he figured out the path that he would need to take to get to Sherrow City. He charted it out using the Town Map's Path feature, and began following the red line that had appeared on the map. Onward, to Tempris Woods!


	4. Bonus 1: Meanwhile, In Another Timeline

Maple and Riley were already waiting in Torutara Town, waiting on a bench outside the Pokemon Centre for Rose to arrive. "Oh, Rose," Maple noted. "Over here!" she called.

Rose skipped over, standing, as there were no more open spaces on the bench.

"How was your walk through the first route of your journey?" Maple inquired.

Rose responded, explaining briefly about the battles that she and her Cubbush had experienced, and the Cottontuft that she'd caught.

"Good to hear, Rose!" Maple smiled. "It's good to know you're handling yourself well on your journey. This is a Pokemon Centre that we're sitting outside of, but I'm sure you know that already. You can heal your Pokemon here, or buy items for your travels. There's even a P.C. system inside where you can store Pokemon that you've caught but don't have room for on your team."

Rose did already know about that, but she smiled, entertaining Maple's explanation.

"They even have a Chinoughnut Champion inside of some Pokemon Centres!" Maple continued.

Rose smiled, thinking about Chinoughnuts and hot chocolate.

"You should go inside and familiarize yourself with Pokemon Centre facilities," she suggested. "After all, as a Trainer, you'll be stopping at Pokemon Centres frequently, you know."

Rose decided that that was probably a good idea. She waved to Maple and Riley, then went into the Pokemon Centre. The PokeBall-shaped building had sliding glass doors which opened automatically when she approached them.

She stepped forward, where the pink-haired nurse greeted her. "May I take your Pokemon for a few minutes, and bring them back to full health?" she offered. Rose handed over her Pokemon's PokeBalls to the Pokemon Centre nurse, who took them with gloved hands and brought them over to a high-tech machine with slots in it perfectly sized to fit one PokeBall each. While her Pokemon were being healed, she decided to check out the PokeMart. There was a stoic-looking worker sitting at the counter. They nodded when they saw Rose approaching. "What can I get for you?"

Rose looked through the catalogue of items that was projected on a touch screen that was built into the PokeMart counter.

"Oh, wait, before you order anything, take this," the cashier offered, handing Rose a small thin-metal card. "It's a promotional card. Open it and see if you won anything."

Ooh, Rose thought. A free chance to win a prize? She pressed a button on the card, activating a holographic screen inside it. There was a message on the holographic projection, which said, "You're a winner! Prize: Five (5) Free Regular PokeBalls."

"Oh, cool, you won," the cashier acknowledged. "What'd you win?"

Rose turned the card around and showed the screen to the cashier.

"Wow, free PokeBalls! And five of them, at that!" He went into the back of the store and gathered the five PokeBalls that Rose had won, and handed them to her after scanning them through the cash register as prizes. "Can I get anything else for you?"

Rose continued to scroll through the catalogue, noticing some items were grayed out, for whatever reason. She decided that, as thanks for the prize, she would give the PokeMart a bit of patronage. She decided to order a Repel.

The cashier returned, and scanned the Repel through the register. After the transaction, there was an announcement over the speakers. "A message for Rose, your Pokemon are now healed. Please come retrieve them from the front counter."

"Thanks for your business," the cashier waved. "Come again."

Rose retrieved her Cubbush and Cottontuft from the nurse, then went back outside, having thoroughly familiarized herself with the Pokemon Centre's services.

"Oh good, you're back," Riley commented. "Your Pokemon all better?"

Rose nodded.

"So," Maple began. "The path to Sherrow City is through the Tempris Woods, which is the largest temperate rainforest in Chinocko. Thankfully, the actual path through to Sherrow is rather short, but try not to go off the path and get lost, okay?" she insisted.

"Right. Well, obviously I'll be okay on my own, so I'll go on ahead." With that, Riley proceeded, chest puffed, down the street. He waved back without turning around.

"Oh boy," Maple chuckled. "He sure does get excited. But he also overestimates his own abilities, doesn't he? I wonder if someone as… prideful as Riley is safe on a Pokemon journey. You know, Rose?"

As much as she hated to admit it, Maple had a point. Pokemon journeys required patience and good judgement. Both things Riley didn't exactly have. But, then again, did Rose even have those things? She sighed.

"I'll try and catch up to him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble, all right?" Maple explained. "You can go at your own pace." With that, she followed Riley's path and headed north down the road. Rose watched her leave, as her lab coat fluttered slightly in the breeze. She sat down on the bench that was now empty, and she looked at the Town Map to make sure she knew where she was headed.


	5. Membership, and the Forest Battle

The entrance of Tempris Woods was, well, woodsy. The stones that made up the road of Torutara Town had been consumed by grass and roots, and foliage extended from the woods into the plaza, blurring the line of where the town ended and the forest began.

But, Riley was now in Tempris Woods, which was where he needed to be. Based on the map, there was a straight path through half of the southern woods, which turned slightly windy after passing by a stream. On the other side of the woods was Sherrow City, which was the objective location. He proceeded forward. He immediately noticed how tall the grass was. It went up to his knees. He had heard lots of stories of wild Pokemon jumping out of tall grass and attacking people. He prepared Pupsky's PokeBall, just in case.

He proceeded down the relatively straight, but undoubtedly grassy path. How far ahead could Rose and Maple possibly have gotten ahead? It didn't seem like he'd waited behind that long, but it did seem like Rose and Maple were already at Sherrow City.

Then, a Pokemon jumped out from the grass! But, Riley was ready! He threw out Pupsky's PokeBall before the wild Pokemon could even fully show itself!

The Pokemon had a long, sleek body and yellow fur! Some parts of its body, like its chest, face, and paws, were white or brown instead. It had charming eyebrows that were shaped like lightning bolts, and it bounced stiffly, yet still elegantly back and forth as if imitating an electrical surge.

"Z-zap!" it cried.

Before sending Pupsky to attack it, Riley used his PokeDex to scan it.

"Faraten," it explained. "The Long-Bodied Pokemon. Type: Normal and Electric. Faraten are known to jitter as they move. This is because of electrical currents that run through their systems. They are skilled hunters, because they use their electrically-charged, unpredictable movements to disorient their small prey."

Interesting, Riley thought. Pupsky was up! Riley had Pupsky use Bite. Pupsky ran up to the Faraten. However, it missed its chance to attack, as it could not predict where the Faraten would be in time to attack it.

Faraten charged its body with a field of electricity! It looked to be preparing to use Spark! It dashed forward toward Pupsky! As the electricity enveloped it,covering it in a veil of yellow sparks, its fast movement made it look like a legitimate lightning bolt!

Pupsky couldn't tell what to do fast enough, not that it had much time at all, and was hit by Spark! It wobbled for a moment, disoriented by the electricity in its body. Riley held out, grinding his teeth in hopes that Pupsky wouldn't be Paralyzed by the electricity. Thankfully, Pupsky shook it off. Though, its fluffy fur stood comically on end.

It ran up to Faraten, with even more vigor this time, and slashed its claws at the mustelidae Pokemon! It successfully landed a Scratch! And right on the Faraten's stomach, no less! No doubt, that was a critical hit! Faraten fell to the ground, weakened, but evidently not unable to continue battling!

Riley thought about what to do. It was only a matter of time- and not much of it- before Faraten was its sparky self again! He reached into his bag! He pulled out one of the empty PokeBalls he'd gotten from the PokeMart! He threw it! As it flew through the air, he squinted his eyes tight, not sure if his aims was good enough for the PokeBall to hit the nimble Faraten! But, the satisfying sound of it opening for the first time told Riley he had hit the Pokemon with the PokeBall!

He ran over to it. He watched it wiggle, as the button on the front flashed red in response to the captured Pokemon trying to escape.

And… caught! Faraten was now a member of Riley's team! Riley had caught a Pokemon for his first time! He gave the PokeBall a little pat. He took out one of the two Potions in his bag, and pressed the nozzle to the button on the PokeBall. He pulled the spray trigger on the Potion, and the sprayable medicine was funneled into the Pokemon, healing the Faraten inside. Riley hoped that Faraten was comfortable in there.

He proceeded onward. Thankfully, no more Pokemon bothered him. However, he noticed an evident obstacle up ahead. There was a large, long, thick, and definitely not hollow log on the path, and there was no way Riley could climb over it, or walk around it. It was simply too large. Oh, but then he noticed. There was a section of it that looked to be cut out to make a path through the middle of it. However, he also noticed that there were two people standing in the way of the man-made path.

He approached the two people, expecting them to be Trainers.

"Oh, hello," one of them, a girl, acknowledged. The other one was a boy, about the same age as the girl. They were both older than Riley, but both much younger than Professor Maple, who was still fairly young herself.

Both of them wore matching outfits. They almost looked like hikers. The girl wore a pair of black jeans that bunched up slightly at her ankles. Her feet were packed into comfy-looking gray hiking boots. She also wore a dark gray tank top, underneath a thick gray jacket, the same shade as her boots. The jacket added a lot to her silhouette. Namely, it added an air of strength due to its widening of her shoulders. Riley noticed a golden symbol on the chest of the jacket, which was the same as the one on her belt buckle. It looked like a triangle, but not a complete one. One end of the triangle symbol had what looked like a hook on it, which didn't connect to the other end.

The boy wore a similar outfit. A pair of black jeans, gray hiking boots, and a thick jacket with a golden symbol on the chest. Although his jacket was closed, and he was wearing a hiking cap with the same golden symbol on it.

Riley acknowledged them as well.

"Can we help you?" the girl asked.

"Oh, I get it, you want us to move," the boy chimed in. "Eh, sorry. No can do. We're busy."

Riley asked what with.

"We're members of Team Delta," the girl explained. "We're performing a survey of the area so that we can use our research to protect the local Pokemon."

"Uh-huh," added the boy. "What she said."

Riley asked if he could just sneak past them quickly.

"Sorry, we have orders to perform a thorough survey of the woods," the girl continued. "You understand, don't you?"

Riley tried to tell them that he was with Professor Maple, who had come through earlier.

"That's nice," the girl sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but I just can't let you through. We won't be done for a while."

Riley sighed, and pulled a PokeBall out of his bag.

"Yo, this kid wants a battle," the boy smirked.

"Ugh, really?" the girl groaned. "You're going to battle us? Just so you can get through here? You're disturbing our important work. But fine, I guess I have to."

"All right, let's go, Cottontuft!" the male Team Delta member summoned, sending out a Cottontuft like the ones before!

"Tuffut!"it chittered.

"You too, Faraten! Go!" the female Team Delta member called as she sent out a Faraten like Riley's.

Riley sent out his own just-caught Faraten, and also his Burndillo. The opposing Faraten made the first move! It opened with a Quick Attack! With its already-fast movement, it was almost no more than a blur of yellow as it rushed towards Pupsky! However, as if by a miracle, Pupsky dodged, jumping to the side! Pupsky used Bite on the Faraten which had attacked it, and bit into its side. It used its strong jaws to lift up the Pokemon, then used Scratch on it! The Faraten coated itself in sparks of electricity, forcing Pupsky to let it go! Meanwhile, Riley's own Faraten went over to attack the Cottontuft! It charged at the Cottontuft, using Spark to charge itself with electric power before it made contact!

The Cottontuft flew back, but its Trainer caught it! Gently, the Team Delta member put the tiny Pokemon back on the ground, and patted its rear to encourage it to go back into battle. It did, hopping with confidence back into battle. Although, it seemed to move slowly, as if inflicted with Paralysis from Faraten's attack!

It launched a small flurry of weak snowflakes in Riley's Faraten's direction! It hit Faraten! But what move was it? "Nice Powder Snow, Cottontuft! Keep it up!" the male Trainer encouraged. Cottontuft smiled at the encouragement.

Faraten shivered. Riley noticed it moving more slowly. There was some frost on its furry body, but thankfully it wasn't completely Frozen.

Pupsky jumped out of the way of a Discharge attack from the opposing Faraten, and then jumped in to deliver another Bite! It was a hit! The opposing Faraten fainted.

"Good work, Faraten! You tried your best!" its Trainer called to it as she returned it to its PokeBall. "Take over for Faraten, Lumbeaver!"

The Team Delta girl sent out another Pokemon. It was a fat Pokemon with stubby arms and legs and four paws. It had a wide, very wide tail and two long teeth that protruded from its mouth. It had a small twig in its paws, which it munched on occasionally. It had a single leaf growing out of its strange-shaped tail, and a little toque on its head.

"Beav! Lumbeav!" it shouted, through chewing on the bark from its twig. It patted the ground with its tail.

Riley pointed his PokeDex at the Pokemon to find out which one it was.

The PokeDex began to speak. "Lumbeaver. The Beaver Pokemon. Type: Water and Grass. Lumbeaver are especially good at carving things. Their large, flat tails allow them to pat mud into place, which allows them to build structures from sticks and mud. They build dams out of rivers to catch fish to eat."

What a crafty little Pokemon, Riley thought. For a second, he thought about throwing a PokeBall at it. But then, he remembered that it already had a Trainer.

Faraten shook off the frost from its fur, then pounced on top of the Cottontuft's back! It electrified its fangs. Cottontuft tried to attack, but the electricity inside it made its muscles tense, and it was unable to execute the move! Faraten bit into Cottontuft's back with a Thunder Fang, causing it to faint!

"I-I'm out of usable Pokemon!" gasped the Cottontuft's Trainer. "Without the help of my Cottontuft, how can I effectively survey the southern woods? I really wasn't expecting to lose…" he sighed.

"I'll take care of this!" the girl claimed. "Lumbeaver, use Bite!"

Lumbeaver thumped over to Pupsky and used Bite, digging its wood-carving teeth into Pupsky's chest. Pupsky yelped, and swatted at Lumbeaver with a Scratch! Lumbeaver stumbled backward! Pupsky took the opportunity to Bite Lumbeaver back! Lumbeaver had protected itself, though. Pupsky's jaws bit down, only to hit a strong invisible forcefield that had been erected around it! Pupsky whimpered and hid its muzzle underneath its paws, its teeth hurting.

"Good job using Protect, Lumbeaver! Smart thinking!" congratulated Lumbeaver's confident Trainer. "Use Protect again!"

Lumbeaver erected another forcefield to replace the one that Pupsky had attacked. Faraten ran in. It prepared to use Spark! The Electric-type move would be super effective against the Water-type Lumbeaver, Riley thought! But then he remembered Lumbeaver was also Grass-type, and remembered that the not-so effectiveness of Electric moves on Grass Pokemon would cancel out the super effectiveness of the Electric attack on the Water type. Still, even with it just being of normal effectiveness, Riley was confident he could win!

He looked over to Pupsky. It whimpered, its muzzle in pain from biting into a Protect barrier. He turned his focus back to Faraten, who was charging at Lumbeaver, even though it had used Protect!

Faraten made contact with the Protect barrier! However, it shattered with no resistance.

"No! Lumbeaver!" its Trainer called. "I'm sorry that you Protect failed! Don't get discouraged!"

Faraten hit Lumbeaver with its Spark move, landing the hit right on Lumbeaver's stomach! The Pokemon got winded and fainted.

"Wow…" the girl from Team Delta gasped, stumbling back. "Fine… begrudgingly, you may pass. I'll even give you reward money."

"You're pretty strong, kid, but I'm still mad about this," the boy scoffed. He shut his eyes tight and dropped the reward money into Riley's palm while facing away. The girl did the same, though she glared into Riley's eyes while doing it.

The girl let Lumbeaver back into its PokeBall. "Good job, guys. You did your best. We'll get stronger. Ahem," she turned to face Riley, who had already begun walking away through the path. "You. Just… don't disturb the wild Pokemon. It will mess with our data. We need this data to create and preserve the ideal habitat for the Pokemon that live here."

Riley nodded, agreeing to that condition. He proceeded onward.

He found that there was a indeed a stream that ran alongside the path as it started to wind. What he didn't expect was to see Pokemon Trainers riding on the backs of Pokemon inside the stream. On the other side of the stream, it looked like there was another path, but Riley had no way of crossing the stream anyway. He mentally noted it for later.

The winding path was full of tall grass, but in keeping to his agreement, he did his best to walk around the patches of tall grass, even when he heard rustling in them.

He saw a the rustling of a long white coat in the distance up ahead. That must be Maple's coat! he thought. He followed, all of his Pokemon safely in their PokeBalls.

Before he knew it, the forest had become not a town, but a fair-sized city! There was a sign next to the path. It said "Welcome to Sherrow City". Riley could only assume the other side said something like "Come See Us Again" or whatnot. He continued to walk forward. There was a short staircase leading to the raised streets of Sherrow City. He heard a loud whoosh overhead and looked up. What he saw was a long, shiny skytrain zooming past him on the raised rails! Unlike Torutara Town, Sherrow City was an entirely new experience for him.

Looking at the Town Map, he looked into Sherrow City's notable spots. Of course, there were the skytrain stations. There were three, which connected the three sections of the city. The most popular one was the one outside of the Sherrow Arena, a nationally famous hockey arena where the famous Number 27, Braise, had played many home games, before retiring and going into the Pokemon League. There was, of course, a station outside of Sherrow City's Pokemon Centre, and one close to the exit to Torutara Town, which was where Riley currently stood. Sherrow City had a few streets of housing, and some apartments. Apparently, Sherrow City was the only city connecting the Southern Chinocko Subregion with the Osuyassa Desert Subregion. On the other side of the city was the Ragnoh Tunnel, a former mining tunnel that had been turned into a path between Sherrow City and the main Osuyassa Desert area.

In the center of the city, Riley could just barely see a metallic tree with metallic Berries hanging from its reflective branches. Apparently that was a location of one of Sherrow City's plazas. Riley knew Sherrow City wasn't anywhere close to the size of a place like Vancine City, but nevertheless was it intimidating to someone who had grown up in a tiny town like New Moon, which didn't even have its own Pokemon Centre. There was also a Cafe. Oh! And even a Clothing Store in the city, called Subregion's Edge! Riley wasn't quite tired of his outfit yet, but maybe he'd check it out.

He began climbing up the steps to the tallest area of the city. At the top, he found the Sherrow Arena. Attached to the Sherrow Arena was the Sherrow Gym, where Braise now trained as the Fighting-type Gym Leader of Chinocko. Riley ran up to the door of the Gym!


	6. Prototype PokeVice Holo: Model 2

"Hey Riley!" a bright voice called. "Over here!"

He turned to face the direction the voice was coming from. It was Rose, sitting outside the cafe to the west. She was accompanied by the familiar, soft face of Professor Maple and a new face unfamiliar to Riley.

He looked back at the door to Sherrow City's Pokemon Gym. With a sigh, he turned away and walked towards his friends.

"Hello!" greeted the unfamiliar woman. She was taller than Riley but not as tall as the Professor. "You must be Riley."

He nodded in confirmation.

"I'm Akili! I'm Professor Maple's assistant," the girl explained. She had caramel skin and voluminous dark hair pulled into a messy bun behind a visor cap. She wore red glasses that looked just a little too big for her.

Riley waved, his own shy way of greeting Akili. He straightened his hat.

"We decided to wait outside for you so we could see you if you walked by," Maple explained. "Come inside."

The cafe was modernly decorated, with many wood tones and low-hanging lights over each of the tables. The chairs had soft cushions on them… Riley imagined he could sit there for hours and still be comfortable.

"So, Akili," the Professor began, "do you have the items with you?"

"Indeed I do, Professor!" Akili excitedly claimed. She hoisted a briefcase that she was carrying and laid it on the table. She opened it up, and pulled out a few small high-tech-looking devices that appeared to be imposed onto wristbands, like watches.

"The newest model of the PokeVice, the holographic model 2.0!" Akili proclaimed, as if introducing a friend.

Maple explained, "Thanks to the rapid development of holographic technologies in Malasarri City, northwest of here, we've managed to integrate said technology into our PokeVices."

Rose and Riley looked confused.

"It's good that you two both agreed to come," Maple chuckled. "Allow me to explain. The PokeVice is a portable pseudo-cellular device with many capabilities, developed in part by Maple Labs. Its purpose: to provide advanced convenience to Pokemon Trainers in the Chinocko , Malasarri City is famous for its highly-advanced holographic technology, and they allowed us to use it to create the PokeVice Holo 2,which is the name of the model you see before you."

Both of the 'PokeVices' as they had been called by the Professor, were black, with tiny shiny screens in the middle. There was a PokeBall-shaped button on the bottom edge of the small device, as well as some smaller unlabeled buttons on the sides.

"These are our beta models," Akili explained. "Maple told me good things about you guys, so I suggested we let you be the testers for our prototypes."

"What?" Rose gasped, almost spitting out the beverage she had ordered onto the waterproof PokeVices. "Wow! That's, like… I don't even know what to say! Maple, you just keep giving us gifts!"

"Consider them work tools," chuckled the Professor. "You're going to be using these devices, along with the PokeDexes I gave you, to expand Maple Labs' knowledge on the conservation of the region's Pokemon, remember? I'm giving you these tools in order to complete that goal."

Akili handed them over to the new Trainers. "Here y'go," she smiled.

Rose immediately snatched hers out of Akili's hand, and turned on the screen without even putting it on her wrist. It turned on to show a sleek home menu, with some labeled apps on it. There were six apps on the home screen, and they were called PokeCache, PokeBuzz, PokeFlash, PokePlayer, and PokeTalk. The sixth one was grayed over, and didn't have a name underneath it.

"The PokeVice Holo 2 has lots of functions, huh?" Akili grinned as she explained her work. "It lets you listen to music, it lets you see up-to-the-minute news updates, it lets you interact with PokeCaches, and even make phone calls- and video calls, too; holographic ones, even!"

"You're sure excited about it," Maple smiled.

"Heh, sorry!" Akili apologized. "It's just cool to see someone else using the PokeVice Holo 2's that I designed! Ooh, it even has a flashlight!"

Akili reached over and touched the PokeFlash app on Riley's PokeVice, which made a bright light cast from the top-front of the device. It beamed, and hit Professor Maple directly in the eyes. She covered her eyes and gasped, as if a Pokemon had used the move Flash on her.

"Careful!" she gasped.

Riley's cheeks grew paler. He attempted to apologize.

Rose and Akili simultaneously chuckled. Maple groaned.

"Just tap it again to turn it off," Akili instructed. Riley did so, and the flashlight deactivated. "And, uh, don't shine it directly towards people's faces," Akili chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck as her lip quivered.

"Well, you two," Maple said with finality, "thank you for coming. I think we're about ready to wrap up our meeting. You two can-" She paused as she was interrupted.

"Professor Angelique Maple?" someone asked. "Is it really you?"

"Oh, is that who I think it is?" Maple asked with a smile.

"Probably not," the person chuckled. "Unless you're thinking of the Gym Leader of Vancine City. Then maybe it is."

"Nalya!" Maple greeted. "How nice to see you here."

The person speaking was a woman, looking just ever slightly older than Professor Maple, who had a very eccentric outfit. She had long black hair, which was tied into a rather large, pink bow. A small lock of her hair hung down from her forehead, and curled back around to the back of her ear. Inside of her ear was a basic-looking square earring, a similar colour to her amber eyes. She had very stylish half-rim glasses on, which made her look very serious. Her eccentric outfit was made up of an earthy-green shirt with a star hole in the chest, which had long blue bell sleeves. Underneath all that, she wore wine-coloured capris and black flats.

"Hello to you too, Maple. What are you doing here? With so many guests/ Having a party?" Nalya asked.

Maple explained, "Actually, we're holding a casual meeting with my assistant, Akili."

Akili waved when her name was called.

"And who are these two?" Nalya asked, looking at Riley and Rose. "They look like that hold promise."

"I agree! Don't they?" Maple praised. "These are Riley and Rose, two new Trainers whom I've given Pokemon to in order to start their journeys."

"I see…" Nalya nodded, putting a finger to her sharp chin. "I was just coming back from a field trip with the class that we took to the Pokemon Reserve, north of here. Sherrow City is known for their coffee, and I know exactly why, so while I was in town I had to come to this popular cafe."

"Rose, Riley," Maple addressed, "this is Nalya. She's the Gym Leader of Vancine City, and also the Head Professor of Battle at the Pokemon University."

"I presume I'll be expecting you two, hm?" Nalya acknowledged, scrutinizing the two young Trainers with her intimidating amber eyes.

"Y-yes you sure will!" Rose exclaimed, practically jumping up from her seat.

"In that case, the Vancine City Pokemon Gym is attached to the Pokemon University," explained the Gym Leader. "I'll be seeing you there." She winked at Riley and Rose, then went over to order her premium Sherrow coffee. Riley noticed a strange charm clipped to the belt she was wearing. He couldn't really tell what it was, though…

"You just gonna sit around, Riley?" Rose asked, already at the cafe's door. "Come on! We should get a head start on Vancine City! It's all the way on the other side of New Moon Town, so we'll have to walk all the way back!"

Riley had realized that… Too bad Sherrow City's Gym wasn't open… it was going to be a long walk to Vancine City, and he didn't even have a single badge yet to put in the Badge Case his father had given him. He sighed, and got up from his seat, filling his lungs with fresh air and confidence. He followed Rose to the door, but by hen she had already run off back towards Tempris Woods.

Maple chuckled. "Hot-footed as ever."

With the two Trainers gone and nothing left to occupy them, Maple and Akili turned to the television on the wall perpendicular to their table. It was playing a Chinockan news station, and it appeared to be playing a live interview.

"Oh, this looks interesting," Akili noted.

"Don, sir," the interviewer on the television asked. "As one of Chinocko's powerful Elite Four, and also the influential branch owner of all the PokeMart chains in the Chinocko region, news about you spreads rather quickly, wouldn't you say?"

The interviewee, a broad-shouldered man with green hair and a strangely-patterened tuxedo, responded, "I would say that recently, that's been the case, yes." He chuckled awkwardly, smiling a little too wide for the sake of the cameras. "Usually not, though," he added. "So it's come as a bit of a surprise to be the center of attention for the whole region." The most memorable thing about the man's appearance, Professor Maple thought, was that the lapels of his forest green tuxedo looked like the wings of a Dragon-type Pokemon...

"Don, is it true that you delivered a very large donation of money from your company to the pockets of Team Delta?" the well-dressed newswoman asked.

Don smiled. "Yes, that is true. I see merit in the work that they do. Their main goal is to protect Pokemon, and so far they've proven to be incredibly successful in accomplishing that goal."

"You heard it here first, people of Chinocko," nodded the newswoman as the image on the screen faded into the news station's logo.

"Hm," Akili sounded. "Team Delta do good work. They seem to share our goals, huh, Professor?" Akili turned to face Maple.

Maple responded with a genuine smile, "It would seem so! What a coincidence..." Her expression flattened as she seemed to mentally trail off.


	7. The Mysterious Man in the Woods

Riley wandered back into the Tempris Woods from Sherrow City. He couldn't stop playing around with his brand-new PokeVice Holo 2 that Akili and Professor Maple had given him. The holographic interface mesmerized him as he fiddled around with the buttons.

A sound coming from the device alerted him of an incoming call. He accepted the call, and Rose's image appeared on the device's holographic 3D screen!

"Hey!" she said. "This thing has holo-video calls! Isn't that epic?"

Riley nodded. It was indeed fascinating. While continuing to walk through the wooded trail, he kept one eye on the screen while also staying alert for wild Pokemon. He wondered if the Team Delta surveyors had left yet… If Rose had made it far enough ahead, they probably had. Otherwise they might not have let her through.

"This thing is so cool! I'm totally gonna get to the Gym before you, slowpoke,"Rose teased. "That is… if I don't get lost in Vancine City, heh. Vancine City is a huge city! My mom sometimes takes us shopping there, but I've still only seen part of it!"

Riley chuckled.

"Vancine City has everything, huh?" Rose thought aloud. "They have a Pokemon University, a Pokemon Centre, a Sub-Ferry Terminal, a Pokemon Fishery, a store that specifically sells PokeBalls…! What don't they have?"

Riley thought to himself… With Vancine City being such a large and popular location, it was hard to think of anything it didn't have.

"Oh!" Rose shouted. "I know! It doesn't have a Contest Hall! Only Eclisse City has a Contest Hall!" Before long, though, Rose was back to talking about how much things that Vancine City did have. "There's even a gosh-dang Pokemon Cafe in Vancine City! It's a cafe where there are just stray Pokemon wandering around! You can adopt Pokemon from it, too! I bet that must be expensive though…"

Riley thought about that for a moment. A Pokemon Cafe, with stray Pokemon wandering through it? What would that be like? It sounded cute!

"Oh, but I gotta go! I'm gonna stop in the Pokemon Centre at Torutara Town while I'm here," Rose explained. "Elelel and I had a rough battle with a Faraten in the woods. So, I'll see you later!"

A click sound came from the PokeVice around Riley's wrist as the screen automatically turned off. He continued walking, listening to the sounds of the grass and leaves in the early-autumn breeze.

As he continued to walk forward, he noticed there was someone standing where the Team Delta surveyors had been standing… he was blocking the path, just like they had… Riley walked up to the person.

A gentle-looking man in comfortable hiking-style clothes was knelt on one knee. A heavy backpack rested on his back. His hair was a very, very dark navy blue colour, but it shined and rustled in the forest breeze. He had rather thick sideburns that looked exceptionally fluffy as they extended from his jaw.

His arm was extended. A curious yellow Pokemon stood a fair distance away... "Pi?" the Pokemon sounded, sniffing the air in the direction of the blue-haired man.

"That's it…" the man said in an unfathomably soft voice. "It's all right, I don't want to hurt you. See? I don't even have any PokeBalls."

The Pokemon, a Pikachu, timidly walked closer to the man. The man opened up his palm to reveal a glistening fresh Oran Berry. The Pikachu's face lit up with a smile. It cautiously extended its neck towards the man's hand, sniffing frantically with its whiskers.

Riley walked closer. SNAP! The sound of a stick breaking underneath his foot wouldn't have normally echoed through the entire wood, but it did this time… The Pikachu immediately darted away, heading straight for the tall grass that it could hide in!

"Huh?" the man sounded, looking somewhat defeated. He stood up and turned around. "Oh… hello," he greeted. "Were you observing that Pikachu too? Cute, right?" The man juggled the Oran Berry in his palm, not sure what to do with it now that there were no Pokemon to offer it to. "My name is Eric. What's yours?"

Riley answered.

"Riley? I like that name," Eric smiled. "I'm a Pokemon Field Researcher… which is basically a fancy way to say, I watch wild Pokemon for a living."

Riley nodded in interest.

"Pokemon are absolutely wonderful creatures. They possess unique powers that allow them to thrive in their natural environments. And some Pokemon are even capable of adapting to new situations in very cool ways. I'm fascinated by Pokemon... and I couldn't be happier with my job."

Riley smiled. It sounded like a nice job, indeed.

"This forest is populated with exceptional Pokemon, isn't it? I suppose, with how untouched by people the forest is, it would be populated with Pokemon, wouldn't it?"

Riley nodded in agreement at the observation.

"Oh," acknowledged Eric. "I must be in you way… Well, my observations here are pretty much complete. I suppose I don't need to take up this space any longer. You look like someone who likes Pokemon… Please, accept this." He handed Riley the plump Oran Berry that he had attempted to offer the wild Pikachu. "May we meet again, Riley." Eric waved goodbye and walked off in the direction of Torutara Town. Riley waved goodbye to him as well and took a moment to put the Oran Berry into his bag before continuing on his own way towards Torutara Town.

When he arrived back in Torutara Town, it appeared that the public farmer's market had finally been set up again! His eyes lit up. He wasn't normally so excited to see the Torutara Public Market lining the streetsides, He was used to it being the norm, after all. But seeing it back up and running brought a smile to his face. He couldn't just ignore the public market! This would be the perfect place to spend some of the prize money that he'd won from battling Trainers!

There were many stalls lined along the curving Main Street of Torutara Town! There were colourful Berries and other foods stacked high on top of the stalls! Many of the vendors were conversing happily with each other, evidently glad to be back to doing their thing.

Riley walked up to one of the market stalls. There were an array of fabric bags, tied up tight at the top by colourful strings. "Hello, youngster," greeted the older woman who was running the stall. "May I interest you in some Powders? They're a mix of finely-ground plant roots and minerals. They can be carried by a Pokemon to boost certain things, and some Powders can even heal Pokemon's wounds when inflicted with burns or poison." The old woman smiled, "They also make good tea. Heh, not many people know that."

Riley browsed the selection. All of the tiny fabric bags were labeled with embroidered patches that said what the powders would do. Riley's eyes fell upon a powder bag with a PokeBall-shaped patch on the front. He looked up at the woman running the stall and picked up the bag very gently.

"That there's Heal Powder. It can heal any status wound inflicted in a Pokemon," the woman explained. "It's useful, so you don't have to dig around your bag and pull out an Awakening when you need an Antidote."

Riley did see the merit in that he handed over some of his money to the woman, and put the bag of Heal Powder into his bag.

"Thank you very much, young one," the woman grinned. "I hope that that comes in handy for you."

Riley moved over to another stall. There was a selection of colourful Berries of all shapes and sizes on top of the stall. It definitely seemed that this stall was popular, as there was a crowd of people around it, looking through the Berries to find the perfect one. Riley snuck his way in through the people and started to look through them himself.

This popular stall had three people serving the customers. One of them wasn't busy, and walked over to greet Riley. "Hello," they waved. They wore a dark green apron with a Leppa Berry printed on a pocket in the front. "Are you looking for a specific Berry? We have a few more boxes back here in case you don't see one that you want."

Riley browsed through the Berries. In all honesty, as a novice Trainer, he wasn't well-educated on the effects of different Berries. Riley picked up a rather large, hard Berry with a pink surface and dense green leaves.

"That's a Persim Berry," the person in the apron explained. "Confusion is a status condition wherein a Pokemon becomes disoriented and may accidentally attack itself with its own moves. As you can tell, that's very inconvenient. So, if you feed a Confused Pokemon a Persim Berry, it'll immediately overcome the Confusion."

Riley was immediately sold! If he was to face a lot of Trainers, all with differing battle styles, he wanted to be fully prepared for all kinds of possibilities. He transacted his money to the stall runner, and put the Berry into the same pocket of his bag that he had put the Oran Berry that he'd gotten from Eric.

Riley continued to look around a bit more, but didn't end up buying anything else. He walked up to one stall, which had a few large green leafy things on top of it. The man behind it had a long beard and a comfy-looking chair that he was sitting in. "Hello there," the man waved upon seeing Riley approaching. "Sorry, but our next harvest of Revival Herbs has been delayed due to an infestation of Rattata at our farm. It's unfortunate, but I can't sell you these ones since I'm holding onto them for someone. Sorry about that! Hopefully, we'll get it taken care of and have a fresh harvest soon."

Riley looked at the leafy produce on the table. Revival Herbs… They sounded useful! He waved at the vendor and proceeded back to Route 3.

Oh! He immediately noticed that the gates to the Berry Farm were open! He grinned and thought to himself, even though he had to walk all the way back through New Moon Town from Sherrow City, there sure were a lot of new things happening!

Riley walked through the white gates and into the Berry Farm, a smile on his face. He had taken a trip here with Maple and Rose once, where they'd learned about the growth patterns of different types of Berries. Of course, he didn't remember the specifics… but he did remember the basics! With well-treated soil and routine watering, along with sunlight, planted Berries grew into Berry Plants, which grew even more Berries from them!

Riley was immediately greeted by one of the farm's attendants, a girl with bouncy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was operating some sort of pushable tool that spun around under the soil and made it fluffy and dark. "Howdy!" she waved. "Welcome back!" Apparently she remembered Riley. He had to think, but he thought he remembered her face too. "Just a moment and I'll be with you," the girl called. "I gotta till the soil first."

There were multiple types of plots of soil at the Berry Farm. Torutara Town and its residents were very knowledgeable about the ideal conditions for produce to grow! There were plots just out in the open, plots inside raised beds, plots with wooden poles sticking out of them, and plots with overhead covers over them.

The blonde girl walked over and acknowledged Riley. "You been here before, yeah?"

Riley nodded.

"I thought I remembered that face!" the girl grinned. "What'cher name again?"

Riley responded.

"Riley! What can I do for ya?"

Riley looked around… He didn't really have anything that he particularly wanted to do here. He just wanted to check it out an see if it was the same as the last time he had come. Evidently, it was.

"I can show you around, if you;d like," she offered.

Riley agreed. A tour of the Berry Farm would help him know where to find everything.

"Y'know, here at the Berry Farm we like to invite people to plant their own Berries using our soil. With soil this rich, why not share, right?" the girl smiled. "As you can see behind me, that there's all of our plots. You can plant Berries in the plots if you'd like." The girl guided Riley over to the side of the field, where there was a large round machine and a tub. A thick, wide pipe seemed to lead into the tub. "This here's the Mulch Machine. You can use Berries to make Mulch, which you can put into the soil to help Berries produce more and grow faster. As they say, it's a Berry-eat-Berry world."

Riley nodded, confirming that he understood.

"Follow me, then," she instructed. She guided Riley over to the main building located at the back of the field. There was a wide window next to the entrance. "This is the window where you can ask the person standing behind it for help." The person standing behind the window waved awkwardly at Riley. Riley waved awkwardly back. They both chuckled. "You can ask them how to use certain facilities 'round here, and they can tell you in detail if you want. And… I guess that concludes our tour!"

Riley thanked the girl for the helpful tour, even though there weren't that many different things to see.

"Happy plantin'!" she cheered, then went inside the main building.

Riley walked back towards the main area of the field. There were a couple people using some of the plots to grow Berries of their own. Riley walked over and heard them talking.

"I feel so relaxed when I come here and water my Berries," one of the Berry growers said.

The other one responded, "Yeah! I totally get that! My favourite part is when you can see the buds of the Berries just starting to form. They grow so fast once they reach that stage!"

The first one nodded, "I agree. Oh hey, did you hear? I heard that they're going to be opening a place where you can get your Berries turned into ice cream! They're gonna be using Moo Moo Milk for the cream- or at least, that's what I heard- so it'll be super good for you, too!"

"That sounds awesome!" The other Berry grower grinned in response.

Riley smiled. It sounded like they were excited, which made him feel excited.

"But it's not open. I'm not really sure when it's going to open."

"That's still cool though! I can't wait 'til it opens!"

Riley silently agreed. That was a worthy reason to return to the Berry Farm in the future. For now, he headed back to the entrance and proceeded through Route 3, returning at New Moon Town.


	8. A Strange Metal Shard

Riley couldn't help it. His first stop while going through New Moon Town was his home. It was getting late into the evening by now, anyway… He walked into the familiar door of his home. His father was in the kitchen, reading newspaper at the kitchen table. He turned around as he heard the door shut. He smiled when he saw Riley.

"Welcome back," he greeted. "What're you doing back in town so soon?"

Riley explained about how Sherrow City's Gym was closed, and about having to come back through New Moon Town to get to Vancine City, where he had a Gym Battle waiting for him.

"Oh, so the Sherrow City Gym wasn't accepting challengers?" his father asked.

Riley shook his head.

"It's probably for the better," his father chuckled. "Sherrow City is the location of the Gym run by Braise. It's the most challenging Gym in the region, son."

Riley wasn't aware of that fact. His eyes narrowed as he thought about what he could have gotten himself into.

"I think you'll have a much better time starting out with Nalya's Gym. That's the first Gym I challenged as well."

Riley smiled. He really was unintentionally following in his father's footsteps.

"Why don't you and your Pokemon sleep here tonight?" his dad offered. "It's getting late, and you've been walking around all day."

Riley agreed that that sounded like a good idea. He went up to his room and put his bag on the floor and fell asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes.

"Arp arp!" was the sound that woke him up in the morning. He wiped his eyes to the familiar sound, and the familiar feeling of Pupsky digging up his bed sheets. He waved at Pupsky, who jumped into his arms and kicked his face.

He sat Pupsky at the foot of the bed and took the opportunity to scan it with his PokeDex. "Pupsky. The Puppy Pokemon," the PokeDex's voice explained. "Type: Normal. Pupsky are very popular house pets. Honest, loyal, protective, playful. They are great with children, and absolutely adore attention such as petting and scratching. If their noses are wet and cool, they are healthy. If dry and warm, they are likely unhealthy."

Riley reached out and scratched Pupsky's fluffy forehead. One of Pupsky's wide eyes was a stark blue, while the other was an earthy brown. He got up from bed and went downstairs. It appeared that his father was still asleep in his bedroom. He quietly crept out the door.

Rose was also just exiting her own next-door house at the same time, out of coincidence. "Oh hey, it's Riley!" she waved.

Riley waved back.

"You stopped in town too?" she asked.

Riley nodded, and began to walk over to Rose.

"It's really early… you wanna start off the day right? With a battle!" she suggested.

Riley smiled, and prepared his PokeBall.

"Sweet!" Rose pumped. "Let's do it!"

Rose sent out Elelel! Riley, knowing he had an advantageous Pokemon, sent out the Faraten he had caught!

Faraten was the faster long-bodied Pokemon between the two, and began the battle with a Spark attack! It lit itself up with the electric energy that made its muscles jitter, and dashed at rapid speed toward Elelel! It jumped up like a jolt of electricity jumping between wires and made contact with Elelel! The water-type Pokemon took major damage, and immediately fainted!

Rose gasped, taken aback. "Wow… that was a strong attack… heh…" She awkwardly chuckled. "Uh… go, Cottontuft, I guess!"

She sent out her next Pokemon, a Cottontuft. It looked slightly larger than the one Riley had seen on Route 3, so he assumed it was perhaps caught in Tempris Woods.

Cottontuft had the opportunity to attack, and hopped over to Faraten, then used a surprisingly powerful Tackle attack on it, knocking it back slightly! Faraten retaliated by delivering a Tackle attack of its own! The Cottontuft stepped up its game, and bit its large vegetable-munching teeth into Faraten's leg! Faraten struggled to get the Cottontuft off of it, but used Discharge, which accomplished the goal quite handily.

Cottontuft was unable to battle after being shocked by Faraten's Discharge attack! Rose clenched her teeth together. "Uh… um…!" she panicked. She sent out her next Pokemon!

"Meeeow~" the Pokemon said, puffing up its silky-furred chest.

"Glameow!" Rose shouted. "Use Fake Out!"

Glameow went to swipe at Faraten's mustelidae face! However, it missed! But it soon came with a second attack, which knocked Faraten back! Faraten was unable to battle after that attack left seemingly critical damage!

Riley threw out his next Pokemon! "Bark!" Pupsky shouted.

Glameow cowered in the face of Pupsky. It arched its back in fear!

Pupsky ran forward, and bit into Glameow with Bite! Glameow attempted to counterattack with Scratch, but missed narrowly! One more Bite from Pupsky and Glameow was also unable to battle!

"Wah-!" Rose gasped, nearly tripping on her boots! "It was over so fast!" Rose sighed as she handed Riley a small bit of victory money. "I clearly need to get stronger, as a Trainer…" she sighed. "But I'll beat you yet!" She went on, "Uh, anyway, it looks like the gate leading to Route 2 is open! I'm gonna go first, so I can do some Training and make sure I'm ready for the Gym Battle with Nalya!"

With that, Rose ran off ahead to the riverside Route 2, leaving Riley behind. Riley checked his Town Map to make sure that he had a good grasp on the path towards Vancine City. From New Moon Town, he'd go through Route 2, then pass through the bushy Enigma Thicket, then through Route 1, and finally he would arrive in Vancine City. It sure would be easier if the Routes were in order from his small home town instead of the capital city, he thought.

Either way, he puffed up his shoulders and proceeded towards Route 2. The Fractal River ran alongside Route 2 in some sections, and a bridge was installed to be able to safely cross the river when it cut the route in half. However, Riley had also heard people talk about using Pokemon with powerful moves to cut down and knock down the trees along the path and use them as makeshift bridges to get to secret spots.

He walked along the riverside route, until he found… a wild Pokemon! "Beaver!" the wild Pokemon called.

Riley recognized the Pokemon! It was the flat-tailed Pokemon Lumbeaver! He sent out Pupsky, since Faraten was unable to battle and Burndillo was fire-type! The Lumbeaver managed to deal the first attack! It planted a bunch of seeds, which stuck into Pupsky's fluffy fur. Pupsky immediately felt its energy draining! It attempted to shake off the sticky seeds, but it was no use! It charged at the Lumbeaver, and bit into the Pokemon's neck! Lumbeaver yelped, but it recovered some damage thanks to the seeds it had attached to Pupsky's fur siphoning Pupsky's energy into it! Lumbeaver attempted to use Tackle, but it missed and fell over! Pupsky bit into the Pokemon's tail!

"L-lum-" the Pokemon stuttered. However, it soon after ran into the bushes to recover from its wounds.

Riley could feel Pupsky's pride emanating from the tiny Pokemon. Pupsky was gaining experience rather quickly. Riley continued walking down the grassy tree-shaded path, until he arrived at the bridge that crossed the Fractal River. Looking down at the rushing water, he immediately knew why people called it the Fractal River. Shiny stones under the water cast light on the water surface, and the moving water splashed up into sparkling droplets as a result. Riley was mesmerized by it. There were even water-type Pokemon in the water, like Salmet! Riley pointed his PokeDex at one of the Salmet swimming downstream, full of curiosity. Thankfully, his PokeDex was able to fulfill his curiosity. "Salmet," the PokeDex said. "The Aboriginal Pokemon. Types: Water, and Rock. Salmet's fins aren't actually physically attached to its main body, so it is unknown exactly how Salmet are able to control their fins. However, they use this to their advantage and use their shiny caudal fins essentially as propellers, like on a speedboat, to propel themselves against harsh river currents."

Riley was super impressed! If only he had a fishing rod, he could cast it into the water in an attempt to catch one of the fascinating Salmet. But, would a regular old fishing rod even be able to be used effectively in such a strong river? Would a good fishing rod even be able to? Maybe, to fish in a harsh Chinockan river, he'd need a specialized fishing rod.

The entrance to the Enigma Thicket was just up ahead. Riley could tell because of the thick, brambled wall of brush ahead. It sure was a thicket, he thought… but what made it an enigma? He shrugged, and proceeded through an arch-shaped cut in the wall of brush.

The inside of the Enigma Thicket was something else. The brambled brush from the outside created what was effectively a dome over the little patch of woods. Riley wasn't even sure how that was possible. Some light was able to come through the thicket dome, but hardly much. Riley noticed that Rose was in the thicket, too. She heard Riley stepping over the crackling leaves on the ground, and turned around.

"Oh, Riley!" she smiled. "You're gaining on me, heh!"

Riley chuckled.

"Anyway, you're not gonna beat me to Vancine City! I promise you that!" Rose proclaimed. "Route 1 is cool, isn't it? I've been there a few times with my mom. It's like a bridge of grass over the highway below! Chinocko has some cool things like that to protect wild Pokemon, you know?"

Riley nodded.

"Well, I'm gonna go! I hear there's some cool Pokemon on the Route 1 Nature Bridge! I even heard there was a Raindeer spotting!" Rose rushed out of the thicket through the exit on the other side.

Riley followed her. He jumped back. Huh? The brambles had extended across the exit, blocking it entirely. He looked back. He brambles had also extended across the other exit. Was he trapped? He put a hand on the zipper to the PokeBall pocket of his backpack. He looked around more… Suddenly, a patch of brambles pulled back. It led to a small pathway, with light trickling down from above.

He followed it, having nowhere else to go. The path ended at what appeared to be a totem pole. There were three heads on the totem pole. The bottom head looked something like a wolf… or perhaps more of a coyote. The second head up, the middle one, was the head of a non-descript human, wearing a tribal-looking headpiece of feathers (though they were etched of wood). The top head on the totem pole was that of a strange-looking bird. It almost looked like a man wearing a gray bird helmet as opposed to an actual bird.

Suddenly, Riley heard a voice echoing through the thicket. "Ang," the voice echoed.

Before he knew it, there was a humanoid-looking Pokemon standing before him. The Pokemon had wings attached to its forearms, and feathers puffed up on its chest. It had bird-like feet, but human legs. And most notably, it had a beak-shaped helmet on its head that looked to be made of stone. Riley noticed something strange about the Pokemon's wings. If they were together, they would have looked remarkably like a bow, like one you would shoot an arrow from.

"Angelion," the Pokemon said.

Riley didn't understand it, but he could hear the desperation in the Pokemon's otherwise calm call.

The top of the totem pole twisted open without anyone touching it. Inside, there was a metallic piece of something that looked like a slice of pie. Upon closer inspection, it looked like something round and metallic had been broken apart.

The Pokemon extended its arm towards Riley, and the metallic item hovered towards the young Trainer's chest.

Riley put out his hand as well. The bizarre item floated just above his palm, spinning slowly.

"Lion," the Pokemon said with a nod.

Riley nodded back, even though he was utterly confused. He had attained a Strange Shard from a mysterious Pokemon in the Enigma Thicket. He put the item into his backpack.

The Angelion disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but faint sparkles in the air.

Riley went back to the main area of the thicket. The path closed up again behind him, but the two exits were now also open. He looked back at his backpack… what was that Strange Shard item? He figured he would find someone who might know something about it, and went onward towards Route 1, the famous Nature Bridge.


	9. A Tense Battle on the Nature Bridge

The light flashed into Riley's eyes after having been in the darkness of the Enigma Thicket. A helpful sign next to him reminded him that he was on Route 1. He could see the rows of buildings on the outer edge of Vancine City, which helped orient him towards his next destination. The route was split in half by a highway. Riley could see cars occasionally speeding along the road. But, there was also a bridge over the highway. The bridge was topped with grass and trees, attempting to blend in with the ground. Riley noticed a plaque nearby. He walked over to it and read it.

It read, "Route 1: The Nature Bridge. The famous nature Bridge was built by a

team of passionate Pokemon Conservationists in order to ensure a safe way fo

Pokemon to travel across the highway that extends from Vancine City. It was covered

in foliage in order to blend in with the grassy plains on either side of the highway,

encouraging Pokemon to use the bridge instead of walking across the road." Vancine

City's stamp could be seen on the bottom-right of the plaque.

Riley proceeded towards the bridge. He noticed a few wild Pokemon were currently using the bridge to cross the highway. There was a beige Pokemon with fluffy blue spots and hooves. It looked up from its grazing and saw Riley approaching it. It jumped onto its hooves, preparing for a confrontation. Riley noticed the Pokemon preparing for combat, and reached down to the PokeBall pocket of his bag, where his Pokemon were!

The Pokemon had small antlers attached to its heads, which were in the shape of teardrops. Riley pointed his PokeDex's scanner at it! His PokeDex analyzed the Pokemon! "Raindeer. The Tiny-Horned Pokemon. Type: Water," the PokeDex explained. "Their tiny horns are used for storing water that they drink. Raindeer can launch water at very high pressures, but because they are so docile, they only use this ability when threatened. Their speed is unrivaled in their habitat, and their fur is softer than dandelion fluff. Their tails are shaped like water droplets."

A water-type Pokemon… Riley wanted to send out Faraten, but it wasn't in a good state to battle… If he sent out the fire-type Burndillo, it would be at a disadvantage. His only option was to send out Pupsky!

"Pup-pup!" it barked, its tongue lulling out of its mouth as it began to pant. It looked at the Raindeer, who was much taller than it. However, it wasn't afraid! It looked back towards Riley for instruction!

The Raindeer attacked! It ran at high speed towards Pupsky, coating itself in a bubble of water! It looked like a unique execution of the move Aqua Jet! Pupsky managed to jump out of the way just in time, though, and performed a Bite attack of its own! It chomped its small teeth down onto Raindeer's leg! The Pokemon stumbled, falling over! As it attempted to get back up, Pupsky used Bite on it a second time!

Riley considered catching it… It looked like a Pokemon with lots of potential to learn new abilities! He prepared a PokeBall and signaled for Pupsky to lay off on it. Riley prepared to throw the PokeBall, not having learned the ideal form yet. He analyzed the distance between himself and the Pokemon, his tongue sticking out as he focused. Then, he threw! The PokeBall opened, and the Raindeer went inside! The PokeBall shook, then shook again… Then, it stopped shaking. Riley had caught another Pokemon! Just then, before he could even recall Pupsky into its PokeBall, another wild Pokemon challenged him!

"Finchling!" the Pokemon called.

Riley analyzed it with the PokeDex. "Finchling. The Finch Pokemon. Type: Flying. Despite being so small, Finchling are very fast Pokemon, especially when in flight. Sparkles are released off their wings as they fly. They are easily identifiable thanks to their body markings, as well as their naturally-jittery movement."

It was true. Riley could see the sparkles fluttering down underneath Finchling's wings as they flapped. The sparkles seemed to evaporate into the air itself. There were cute wispy markings around the Pokemon's body that were dark-pink, a different colour from the majority gray and white of its body. Pupsky barked up at it, and it chirped back! It sent a beam of wind at Pupsky! What kind of attack was that? Riley had no clue. But the PokeDex said it was flying-type! Neither Pupsky nor Burndillo had any moves that would be very effective against a flying-type Pokemon like Finchling!

"Twe-weet!" Finchling chirped! It went to attack Pupsky again, but Pupsky attacked it first! Pupsky jumped up into the air and used a Scratch attack to knock Finchling to the ground! Finchling quickly got up, but before it could flap back into the air again, Pupsky pinned it down with its paw and used Bite! Finchling jumped back, and swung its wing at Pupsky! It was undoubtedly a Wing Attack! Pupsky took damage, but not enough to go down! Pupsky used Bite once more! The Finchling hopped into the bushes to recover from the battle. Pupsky growled at it, making sure it knew who the winner was.

Riley smiled and thought about how the battle(s) had gone. Pupsky had surely gained some experience. It was evident in how confident it now was in its attacks. Plus, Riley now had a Raindeer on his team. That brought his total Pokemon up to four. He called for Pupsky to follow, raised his shoulders with pride, and continued down the Nature Bridge.


	10. First Steps in the Big City

It was finally here… Riley had finally arrived in Vancine City. Vancine City was the largest city in all of Chinocko. That also meant it had the most facilities to take advantage of, and the most people crowding the streets. However, it was an iconic city, and Riley felt accomplished that he had made it here all by himself (with the help of his Pokemon, of course).

His Town Map narrowed down to show him a map of the large Vancine City. There were so many facilities…! There was a Pokemon Centre, a Pokemon Department Centre, a Bank, a Bar, and even the Pokemon cafe that Rose had mentioned! On top of that, there was the Pokemon Trainer University, the Town Hall, multiple hotels, and the Vancine Park, where Trainers were known to go for battles. Even furthermore, there was a Pokemon Fishery, a Sub-Ferry Terminal, and even a huge Airport! Riley could see a plane overhead right then.

There were many things to see in such a huge city, but Riley had a mission. First, he would locate the Pokemon Centre and heal his team of Pokemon, then he would challenge Nalya at her Pokemon Gym! Riley consulted the Town Map. Both the Pokemon Centre and the Pokemon Gym were located on Vancine Central Rd. He inputted his plans into his Town Map, and a route to the Pokemon Centre was highlighted on the Map. Apparently, the temperature in the city was 22 Degrees, and lightly cloudy. It certainly seemed that way. It was pleasantly warm, without being hot.

Riley followed the route highlighted on his Map. The Town Map led him through an alley which wound between two rows of buildings. He didn't expect to see wild Pokemon in a street alley! There was a Trubbish hanging around a garbage can which someone had left out their back door, and there was a Glameow proudly passing through the alley. Riley walked on through, hoping the Pokemon wouldn't bother him. Thankfully, both of them seemed preoccupied.

There was a crossroads once again when Riley came out the other end of the street alley. It had taken him to the Vancine Park. It would have been faster to walk through the park, but he didn't have time to do any Pokemon Battles with Trainers, so he walked around the grassy park instead.

Thankfully, the map showed that Vancine Central Rd. wasn't too far from here. He proceeded along the Map's suggested route, until he arrived at Vancine Central Rd. Vancine Central Rd. was actually a round plaza. The Pokemon Centre, Town Hall, and Pokemon University were all located around the plaza. In the middle of the plaza was a statue. It was a bird Pokemon, with its wide wings outspread. Riley racked his brain… he'd seen that Pokemon somewhere before... Yes! The statue was of a Pokemon named Maraeven, a Pokemon whose stunning, reflective wings feathers looked like they captured light itself.

Just then, a message notification dinged on his wrist. He looked at his PokeVice to read the message. It was from Rose. "Hey!" she messaged. "I just figured out we can send text messages with our PokeVices!" She sent another message. "I just went to the Pokemon Cafe! It was such a great time! A stray Glameow came right up and licked my hand! Anyway, now I have to walk all the way to Vancine City Gym… so I'll see you there!"

Surprisingly, the Pokemon Centre wasn't nearly as bustling as the city outside. Riley went up to the Nurse's counter and gave her his Pokemon so that she could use her technology to heal them. In the meantime, he went over to look at anything he might want to buy in preparation of his upcoming Gym challenge. He bought three extra Potions, just in case. Besides, it wasn't like they would go bad if he ever needed them in the future.

He picked up his Pokemon. The next thing he wanted to do was look at the P.C. and check out what his options were with using it. He logged onto his own P.C. account and the screen popped up with options. However, the options weren't the only thing that popped up!

A small, blue avatar of a male figure appeared in the corner of the screen! "Howdy there, Riley!" the avatar greeted.

Riley gasped.

"My name's Sir Kit. I'm the Pokemon P.C. Helper!" the avatar explained. It looked like a man with blue skin and blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue business-type outfit with a blue bowtie. Everything on him was a different shade of blue. It definitely helped him to appear more digital. He had an endearing grin on his face. "I'm here to help you access the P.C. functions! You can even communicate with me using voice commands!"

Riley's expression was one of impressedness.

"I-if you don't wanna talk, that's fine too," said Sir Kit awkwardly. "Otherwise, you can use the touch-screen buttons to navigate the functions."

Riley tapped the 'Deposit Pokemon' option.

"Ah, you're leaving a Pokemon in the P.C.?" Sir Kit asked. "I promise, I will personally take great care of them once they're on my side of the screen! Have no worries! All you have to do is insert a Pokemon's PokeBall into that little PokeBall slot there!"

Riley took out Raindeer's PokeBall from his bag, and put it into the PokeBall-sized slot. The P.C. machine sucked up the PokeBall, and it appeared on the screen.

"Now that your Raindeer has been transferred to the P.C., I'll personally take great care of it, so you don't have to worry about it getting lonely or hungry!" Sir Kit explained. "No extra charge!"

Riley smiled and waved good-bye to Sir Kit, and to Raindeer, as he logged out of the P.C. The next task was to finally face a Pokemon Gym! To the Pokemon Trainer University!


	11. Vancine City Gym!

The glass main doors of the Pokemon Trainer University slid automatically open upon Riley's arrival. The main hall of the Trainer University was wide, long, and well-lit from large windows and even skylights. It wasn't difficult to find Nalya's Pokemon Gym inside the University. After all, the flashy uniform pillars that all Pokemon Gyms were predicated with could be seen from the entrance. Riley proceeded to the balcony on the second floor, then proceeded into the Normal-type Pokemon Gym!

Immediately, Riley felt like he may have been intruding. There were Pokemon Trainers, but they appeared to be studying. Nalya was standing next to a wide black board that spanned across the back wall of the classroom that made up her Gym.

He proceeded forward. Nalya acknowledged him immediately. "Welcome, Riley. I've been expecting you."

Riley squared up.

Nalya chuckled. "Don't get too excited yet. When you can prove yourself against my students, then I'll face you myself."

Just then, all of the students looked up from their books.

"If you need, I have materials you can use to study, such as Pokemon type effectiveness charts and Berry study guides," Nalya offered.

Riley walked over to one of the students.

"Hi! How's it going?" the student asked. "I'm really glad I studied! Me and my Cottontuft will show you what we've learned!"

The Pokemon Trainer sent out a Cottontuft! The Pokemon wiggled its tiny tail as it prepared for battle!

Riley sent out Pupsky! Pupsky growled at the Cottontuft, who chittered in return. Pupsky went in to attack! It quickly performed a double-attack, hitting Cottontuft with both a scratch and a bite! Riley's eyes widened. Had Pupsky picked up a technique for a new move? It seemed as though Pupsky had just used Double Hit!

Cottontuft was majorly damaged by Pupsky's strong Double Hit, and fainted before it even got a chance to attack.

"Hmm…" the Pokemon Trainer sighed, recalling the Pokemon into its PokeBall. "It appears I've been studying so hard that I forgot to apply what I learned…" The Pokemon Trainer have Riley some money as a reward for winning.

The next student Riley challenged was a girl in a Lass outfit, who had brown hair in a loose French braid. "Are you ready to see what I've got?" she asked. "Great! Let me show you! Lumbeaver, as we practiced!"

The Lass sent out a Lumbeaver, who chewed away on a stick as soon as it was released from its PokeBall.

Riley sent out Burndillo, who he knew had an advantage with moves like Ember and Flame Wheel!

Riley pointed his PokeDex at the Trainer's Lumbeaver to see what he could learn. "Lumbeaver," read the Dex. "The Beaver Pokemon. Types: Normal, and Grass. Lumbeaver are especially good at cutting things thanks to their large, sharp teeth. Their large tails allow them to pat mud into place, which allows them to build structures from sticks and mud."

Burndillo managed to use its powerful tail to launch it into the first move! It created flames around its hard-shelled body, the started to spin! It was forming a Flame Wheel attack! It sped towards Lumbeaver!

"Lumbeaver, as we've practiced!" the Lass reminded.

The Lumbeaver prepared for the attack to hit it! As soon as Burndillo's flaming body made contact, an invisible forcefield appeared around Lumbeaver!

"Good Protect, Lumbeaver!" the Lass encouraged.

Lumbeaver smiled expressively. It bit into Burndillo in such a way that it executed a Cut attack with its sharp teeth. However, the attack was weak, and Burndillo used Flame Wheel once again on the Lumbeaver! The fire-type attack was extra effective against the grass-type Lumbeaver, and the Lumbeaver fainted!

"Even if I lost, I still learned something, y'know?" the Lass smiled. "Here, you've earned this." She handed Riley the appropriate amount of reward money.

There was only one more Trainer who looked like they wanted to battle. They had thick glasses. Surprisingly, they looked quite young to be attending the Pokemon Trainer University. The Youngster looked Riley in the eye.

"You're strong! I wanna use you to test how strong I am!" proclaimed the Youngster. The young boy sent out a Pupsky!

Riley decided to send out Faraten, so that the electric-type Pokemon could get some battle experience! Faraten's speed meant it could easily sneak in the first attack! It bolted towards Pupsky in its unique jolt-like way, then tackled into the Pupsky with a Spark attack!

The Pupsky yipped, but retaliated by using Bite on Faraten! The Pupsky's Bite attack was a critical hit!

Faraten jumped back! It glared at Pupsky. It charged electricity inside its body, and a Discharge attack burst out from its body! Pupsky was caught in the Discharge! The opposing Pokemon ran up to Faraten and used Scratch on it, scratching all the way down its back!

Riley could see that Faraten had sustained enough damage that soon it would be unable to continue battling. He pulled a Potion out of his bag and sprayed the substance all over Faraten's lanky body. "Fra!" Faraten sounded pleased.

Pupsky attempted to use Bite again, but Faraten used its impressive speed to dodge just in time! Faraten tackled into Pupsky with another Spark attack! The Pupsky had taken enough damage that it could no longer battle.

"Pupsky, return!" called the Youngster, returning Pupsky to his PokeBall.

To Riley's surprise, the Youngster had a second Pokemon!

"Go, Raindeer!" called the Youngster as he sent out a Raindeer much like the one Riley had recently caught! Riley kept Faraten on the battlefield! Faraten and Raindeer both seemed closely matched for speed! Raindeer seemed to manage the first attack!

Raindeer launched a high-pressure beam made up of water and bubbles at Faraten! It was a direct hit! Faraten was flung back! Faraten, due to being light, flew through the air thanks to the impact of Raindeer's Bubble Beam attack! It used its airborne state to its advantage though, and spun around in the air! Sparks flew around it, forming into a ball of electricity! It used its long tail to swat the ball towards Raindeer!

Riley was impressed! It appeared like Faraten had just learned a new move: Electro Ball!

The Electro Ball attack made contact with the Raindeer! The super-effective attack caused the Raindeer to faint! Faraten landed next to Riley's foot.

"Darn…" the Youngster groaned. "I guess I overestimated my own strength as a Trainer… I won't make that mistake again!" The Youngster didn't have much money on hand, but he still gave Riley a small handful of prize money.

Nalya stepped forward. "I see, I see…" she pondered. "It appears you have good knowledge of Pokemon typings. Now, you have one final test before you before you may possess the Graduate Badge."


	12. The Battle for the Graduate Badge!

MAP OF CHINOCKO: document/d/1g6GTC6qGQbCxIzHwAZfjKr2Bd8ow23ohhHU2Mfqzll0/edit

Riley stepped forward, shoulder back and chest pushed forward. He was excited, and felt prepared for his first battle with a Gym Leader!

Nalya also stepped forward. She maintained the same lax stance as she had before. "It's important to learn from your experiences battling alongside Pokemon." She spoke with clarity. "Are you ready to challenge a Gym Leader for the first time, Riley?"

Riley gave a determined nod, and tightened his grip on the PokeBall in his hand!

"Very well," Nalya grinned. She pulled a PokeBall out of her pocket and tossed it in her hand! She firmed up her stance, preparing for a Pokemon battle! "I'll be testing you on your battle strategy, Riley. So, don't slip up! Make this battle something we both can learn from!"

She tossed the PokeBall she was holding into the middle of the classroom! The Pokemon that emerged from the PokeBall was a Pokemon Riley hadn't seen! It looked similar to Cottontuft. However, it was leaner, and sat on its strong back feet. It had many white, shiny diamond patterns in its light brown fur, especially around its right eye and tail. "Hivare!" the Pokemon called, shaking its fluffy tail. It had an incredibly fluffy mane around its shoulders and neck, which was white and speckled with light brown.

Riley was fascinated by the Pokemon! He pulled up his PokeDex and consulted it for an explanation. The PokeDex began reciting, "Hivare. The Season Hare Pokemon, and the Evolved Form of Cottontuft. Ability: Winter Coat. Annual Forme. Type: Normal. Hivare's fur colours alternate depending on seasons and weather patterns. In winter, and during snowy weather, Hivare's fur pattern turns white, and it gains the Ice type. Hivare are particularly good at locating Berries in cold climates."

Wow! Riley thought to himself. A Pokemon with the ability to change its own Type in different weather conditions? Awesome!

Riley sent out his Pupsky! "Bar-ark!" it barked. Its tail swished back and forth with its excitement.

Hivare managed the first move! "Hivare, Quick Attack!" instructed Nalya. Hivare dashed up to Pupsky with its strong legs, and pounded into him with an unpredictably fast kick! Pupsky was knocked back slightly by the impact!

Pupsky barked! It ran up to Hivare, who had attacked it! Pupsky used Bite, digging its sharp teeth into Hivare's leg! Hivare used Scratch in retaliation, and got Pupsky off of it! It used Pupsky's moment of surprise to perform a second attack! Hivare used Quick Attack on Pupsky again, slamming into the canine Pokemon with its feet!

Pupsky used Scratch! It pinned Hivare down, and scratched it with its claws! Hivare kicked Pupsky off of it with its powerful feet, and used Bite! Pupsky yelped. It used Bite right back! Hivare fell over, looking weak.

"Hivare, return!" Nalya returned Hivare safely to its PokeBall. She gently rubbed the surface of the PokeBall. "Fear not, Hivare. You still did very well." Nalya looked at her opponent, Riley.

Pupsky limped over to Riley's side. Riley's face was struck with concern… but he just didn't have time to worry about it! Nalya was already throwing out her next Pokemon!

"Raindeer!" the Pokemon called. Riley was familiar with Raindeer. He had faced one on the Nature Bridge at Route 1.

Riley looked at Pupsky with encouragement in his gray eyes. Pupsky looked back. It nodded, and jumped back into battle, ignoring its pain!

Raindeer attempted to move first! It used Bubble Beam! However, Pupsky jumped out of the way! Pupsky sprinted towards Raindeer! It opened up its jaw in preparation to use Bite! However, it tripped on its tender damaged leg right before it reached Raindeer!

Riley clenched his fist in frustration and anticipation of something bad! Raindeer turned to face Pupsky, who had fallen! All it had to do was use Tackle and Pupsky had fainted!

Riley returned Pupsky to its PokeBall, and sent out Faraten instead. He remembered that Faraten's Electric-type attacks gave it an advantage against the Water-type Raindeer!

Faraten hissed and jumped around on its sparky little feet. It looked back to Riley for quick instructions. Riley looked back.

Faraten dashed toward Raindeer, its electric bolt-like movement making its next move impossible to predict! It jumped into the air, still jolting like lightning, and launched an Electro Ball at Raindeer!

The super-effective attack clearly did great damage to the Raindeer! "Raindeer!" Nalya gasped. She ran over to the Pokemon and swiftly sprayed its wounds with a Potion. Raindeer smiled back at Nalya's help, and got back up to its hooves.

Faraten used Double Team, using its intense energy to move so fast that it created doubles of itself! Raindeer was visibly confused. However, it had a plan! Raindeer mustered its power, and unleashed a Surf move! It created a pool of water in the middle of the classroom! All of Faraten's copies faded away, and Faraten itself was also damaged! The pool of water soon faded as well.

Faraten launched one more Electro Ball at Raindeer! It was powerful enough to cause Raindeer to fall over, unable to battle further. Nalya returned Raindeer to its PokeBall. "That was a great performance," she whispered into the PokeBall.

Nalya's final Pokemon was one Riley also owned! It was a Pupsky! "Brow!" it yipped.

Faraten managed to get the first move in! It attempted to use Spark, but it missed the Pupsky in its charge! The opposing Pupsky chased down Faraten, and used Scratch on it! Faraten was hit by the attack! But it used Pupsky's close quarters to use a particularly effective Discharge! It emanated electricity from its body, which entered the nearby Pupsky!

As the energy ran through Pupsky's body, Pupsky found its muscles tensing up, causing it to be more difficult for it to move. "Paralysis…" Nalya muttered. "That certainly is a strategy… Usually, I don't see new Trainers using such techniques…"

"Bow-" Pupsky stuttered, flinching from its paralysis.

"Pupsky, can you perform a Headbutt?" Nalya asked.

Pupsky attempted to move. The electric energy running through its muscles made it difficult, but it somehow managed to perform the move! It rammed its head into the small Faraten, causing the mustiled Pokemon to go flying backward! Faraten landed, but it had sustained considerable damage!

Faraten dashed back to the battlefield, swiveling between the legs of the classroom's desks. It used Spark on Pupsky, which landed in a critical spot! Pupsky took considerable damage! Pupsky attempted to perform another attack, but the electricity in its muscles caused them to tense up, disabling it from moving! Faraten used Spark one more time, and Pupsky was then unable to battle!

"Strong battle," Nalya commented, returning Pupsky to its PokeBall. "You pass with flying colours. As a reward, accept the Graduate Badge." She held out a shiny silver Gym Badge for Riley to take.

Riley excitedly grabbed it right out of her palm! He opened up his dad's wooden Badge Case and insert the diamond-shaped Gym Badge into the appropriate hole in the foam! He moved the Badge Case around, watching as the shiny new badge gleamed in the light.

"I'm glad you're excited," smiled Nalya. "Here." She handed a considerable amount of money to Riley. "Your reward money."

Riley gladly accepted it.

"Do you know where you're going to go to next?" asked Nalya.

Riley thought for a moment. He wanted to look around the city, but otherwise he didn't know where his journey would take him next.

"The nearest Gym to here is in Suncoast City," Nalya explained. "It's on Suncoast Island, a small island in the Coastal Subregion. Do you have any Pokemon that you can use to cross large bodies of water?"

Riley shook his head.

"Hm… That's a slight issue" Nalya acknowledged. "The Sub-Ferry doesn't go to Suncoast Island, since the water is so shallow. Still, it might help to at least make a mark on your Town Map."

Riley followed her advice and marked Suncoast City on his Town Map.

"There's plenty to explore in Vancine City, still, so at least you won't get bored," smiled Nalya. "I'll see you around. Thanks for the battle."

Riley made his way out of the Gym, and started walking towards the Pokemon Centre. One of the paths leading away from the Central Rd. Plaza was blocked off by several identical gray trucks. There was a uniform logo on all the trucks. It looked like a PokeBall, but the line through the PokeBall was a typical electric bolt symbol. He walked over, curious.

Employees wearing suits with the same logos on their chests appeared to be working along the street. Some were standing guard by the trucks, making sure nobody stumbled into the work area. "Hey, kid," one of the employees greeted. He was a tall, muscled man with a chinstrap beard.

Riley walked closer.

"We're with BurstPower," explained the employee. "Y'know, the big electrical company from all over the Chinocko region. We're working on restoring the power to this section of Vancine City. Unfortunately, we can't let you past."

Riley put his hand on one of his PokeBalls.

"Not even a Pokemon battle can get us to move, kid," the employee chuckled. "For people's safety, this section of the city is off-limits until we get the power back on. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Riley sighed, and turned back. He still needed to go to the Pokemon Centre anyway.


End file.
